N.B.A. Game of the Week Russell Isabella/Reuters Luis Scola has given the Pacers an infusion of scoring and toughness. Every week, The New York Times chooses one essential game to watch, highlighting hot teams, winning and losing streaks, and statistical intrigue in the N.B.A. Miami at Indiana, Tuesday, 7 p.m. Eastern Most of the chatter around the N.B.A. in the last week has concerned the lowly Eastern Conference. Going into Sunday's games, the East had only three teams with records over .500. Two of those teams are the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers, who are perhaps the best in the league. Being the dominant teams in a losers" conference adds to their budding rivalry. Expect a playoff atmosphere in their first matchup of the season, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Tuesday. Miami is three games behind Indiana in the standings, but few fans consider it the inferior squad. In Game 7 of last year's Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat trounced the Pacers, 99-76, the largest margin of the series. Indiana has improved since that game. Paul George has developed significantly this season and is playing at superstar caliber. Still, George and the other Pacers" stars played well enough throughout last year's series; what really hurt the Pacers were lack of depth and turnover problems. The depth issue seems to have been resolved. Though Danny Granger is still trying to return from a leg injury that has sidelined him this season, three Pacers backups represent a significant improvement from last year. Luis Scola, acquired from the Suns, has given the bench an infusion of toughness and scoring, and backup point guards C. J. Watson and Donald Sloan have played well. Perhaps the Pacers" most important off-season move was re-signing the veteran forward David West. West and Roy Hibbert caused all kinds of trouble for Miami last season, forming a potent high-low combination and preventing the Heat from getting into the lane easily. But the Pacers are having trouble shaking their ball-control problem, something that should have been high on their list of priorities after they averaged 17.5 turnovers in their losses to the Heat in the conference finals, including 21 in Game 7. Those stats followed a season in which the Pacers averaged 14.5 turnovers a game. Despite their improvements in so many other categories this season, the Pacers are turning the ball over even more frequently, at an average of 15.8 times a game. They will be especially vulnerable against the Heat, who force more turnovers than any other team in the league. The Pacers strength in the lane should challenge the Heat, who have been struggling to defend inside. In recent losses to Chicago and Detroit, the Heat allowed a combined 104 points in the paint. If the Pacers" offense, which thrives on the extra pass to the post, can overcome its tendency for turnovers, it will be able to exploit Miami's weakness inside. Miami's roster is largely unchanged from last year. While the Heat offense and Pacer defense will make for compelling basketball on one end of the court, the difference on Tuesday night could be the other side, where the Pacers may have a slim advantage.