The Indiana Pacers (6-10) meet the Charlotte Hornets (9-7) Friday at Spectrum Center for a 7 p.m. ET tip-off. Below, we look at the Pacers vs. Hornets odds and lines, and make our expert NBA picks, predictions, and bets.
Indiana is 3-3 overall and ATS over its last six games which include back-to-back road losses at the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons. The Pacers are 8-8 ATS and 5-11 O/U with the 19th-best net rating (minus-0.9).
Charlotte is the winner of four in a row with the last two coming against the first-place team of each conference. The Hornets are 9-7 ATS and 9-7 O/U with the 18th-best net rating (minus-0.8).
The Hornets upset the Pacers in a 123-122 nail-biter as 1.5-point home underdogs Oct. 20. Charlotte had more paint points, second-chance points, fastbreak points and points off turnovers than Indiana in the first meeting.
Pacers at Hornets odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:21 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Pacers +100 (bet $100 to win $100) | Hornets -120 (bet $120 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Pacers +1.5 (-112) | Hornets -1.5 (-108)
- Over/Under (O/U): 215.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
PLAY: Free, daily sports pick’em contests. Play now!
Pacers at Hornets key injuries
Pacers
- SG Chris Duarte (shoulder) questionable
- SF T.J. Warren (foot) out
Hornets
- PF P.J. Washington (elbow) out
Pacers at Hornets odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Pacers 113, Hornets 108
Money line
GIMME the PACERS (+100) to tie the season series between these two evenly matched teams.
Indiana has a higher adjusted shot quality differential (according to ShotQuality.com) and these teams are neck-and-neck in net efficiency. The Pacers also have a higher net effective field goal shooting (eFG%).
Indiana won three of the four quarters against Charlotte in their meeting earlier this season. Besides a 33-13 third quarter, the Pacers played better than the Hornets. If Indiana can minimize its errors and force Charlotte into tougher looks then it will win this game.
We’re also seeing “reverse line movement” in Indiana’s direction even though Charlotte enters on a four-game winning streak.
The Hornets are getting a majority of the bets but Charlotte’s money line has gotten cheaper since the opener according to pregame.com. That tells us the oddsmakers are enticing more pro-Hornets action.
Let’s go the other way and BET the PACERS (+100) to pull off a road upset.
Against the spread
PASS because the Pacers +1.5 (-112) doesn’t provide enough insurance for Indiana’s money line. I’d rather just take the Pacers to win outright unless their spread goes to 2.5 or higher in which case I’d take Indiana plus the points and “sprinkle” on the Pacers’ money line.
Over/Under
Slight “LEAN” to the OVER 215.5 (-110) because I much prefer the Indiana side more than the total in this contest.
However, there is value in fading a market that has steamed the Pacers-Hornets total down from the 219-point opener according to Pregame.com.
The last two Pacers-Hornets meetings have been fast-paced shootouts and maybe the market is betting the Under due to recency bias. Charlotte has gone Under the total in four straight and Indiana has gone Under in four of its past five games.
Again, my favorite play in this game is the Pacers outright but there’s value in the OVER 215.5 (-110).
If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW. Please gamble responsibly.
Follow Geoff Clark on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Additional NBA sports coverage:
HoopsHype | Celtics Wire | LeBron Wire | Lonzo Wire | Nets Wire | Rockets Wire | Sixers Wire | Thunder Wire | Warriors Wire | Rookie Wire | List Wire
Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA).
[lawrence-newsletter]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1622]