The Charlotte Hornets (24-23) play their second game in consecutive days Friday, this time against the Indiana Pacers (21-25) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Hornets-Pacers odds and lines, with NBA picks and predictions.
Charlotte was crushed 111-89 Thursday by the Brooklyn Nets who were without All-Star SF Kevin Durant and PG James Harden. This will be the Hornets’ third game of a six-game road trip. They’re 4-2 straight up (SU) and 5-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last six games.
Indiana lost back-to-back games to the Bradley Beal-less Washington Wizards 132-124 as a 7-point road favorite Monday and 92-87 to the Miami Heat Monday as a 1.5-point home underdog. Over the past two weeks, the Pacers 4-3 SU and 3-4 ATS including two straight wins over the Heat March 19 and 21.
The Hornets snapped a four-game losing skid against the Pacers in their last meeting Jan. 29 to even the season series 1-1 SU and ATS entering Friday’s rubber match.
Hornets at Pacers: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:10 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Hornets +145 (bet $100 to win $145) | Pacers -175 (bet $175 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Hornets +4 (-110) | Pacers -4 (-110)
- Over/Under: 219.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Hornets at Pacers: Key injuries
Hornets
- SG Malik Monk (foot) questionable
- PG LaMelo Ball (wrist) out
Pacers
- SG Jeremy Lamb (toe) questionable
- PF Domantas Sabonis (quadriceps) questionable
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Hornets at Pacers: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Pacers 119, Hornets 110
Money line (ML)
PASS since Indiana is the right side here but the Pacers (-175) are a little too expensive for an outright win.
I wouldn’t hate parlaying Indiana’s money line with another favorite for a plus-money payout.
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Against the spread (ATS)
Believe it or not, All-Star forward Sabonis is in the bottom 10th percentile of forwards in points per 100 possessions differential, according to CleaningTheGlass.com
If Sabonis isn’t active Friday, there might actually be value in the Pacers from whatever line adjustment is made by the market.
Sabonis is averaging 22 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists per game on 69.4% true shooting in the two Hornets-Pacers games this year.
Also, each team likes to get out in transition and crash the glass. The Pacers and Hornets are in the top-5 in fast-break points and points off turnovers scored per game but Charlotte is bottom-10 in fastbreak points allowed and second-chance points allowed per game.
Over/Under (O/U)
“LEAN” OVER 219.5 (-110) for one-fifth of a unit, if at all, because this total has already been steamed down from the 223-point opening total and I’d prefer to fade the market than follow it in this spot.
Charlotte is 10-6 O/U as a home favorite and Indiana is 13-7 O/U as a road underdog. My hesitation about the Over in Hornets-Pacers is lately one of these sides has put up an offensive dud in their meetings.
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Also see:
- Bet Slippin’ Podcast: 2021 MLB American League Betting Preview
- LaMelo Ball named March’s Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month (Lonzo Wire)
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