NBA Odds: Pacers (even)
The Central’s top team, the Cleveland Cavaliers (36-22), travel to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to take on the division rival Indiana Pacers (23-34). The game gets underway at 7:00 pm ET on Friday, Feb. 27 and will air on FSN-OH and FSN-IN.
The Pacers were beaten by the Thunder 105-92 on Tuesday. C.J. Miles was the team’s high scorer, contributing 21. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, are coming off a 102-93 win over the Pistons on Tuesday. Kevin Love led the game in scoring with 24 points on 8-for-16 shooting.
Rodney Stuckey has really been playing well as of late for the Pacers, averaging 19.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.8 three-pointers over the last five games.
The two teams have split their matchups this season. The Pacers had the upper hand in the most recent game, a 103-99 win. David West put up 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Oddsmakers have deemed this game an even matchup and the Over/Under (O/U) is presently unavailable. The Pacers enter the game with records of 23-34 Straight Up (SU) and 30-25-2 Against The Spread (ATS). They are 7-3 ATS over their last 10 games.
On the other side, the Cavaliers head into the game with records of 29-29 ATS and 36-22 SU. Most recently, Cleveland is 7-3 ATS over the last 10 games.
Following the Pacers’ latest win over Cleveland, their SU record rises to 8-2 over the Cavaliers in the last 10 meetings. Additionally, the Pacers lead the matchup ATS with a record of 6-4. Indiana topped the Cavaliers in three key areas (field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers) twice over the last 10. Cleveland has had the edge in all categories once.
Predictions: SU Winner – CLE, ATS Winner – CLE
Notes
Indiana is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Indiana’s last 6 games at home.
Indiana is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games at home.
Indiana is 16-3 SU in its last 19 games when playing Cleveland.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Indiana’s last 6 games when playing Cleveland.
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Indiana’s last 11 games when playing at home against Cleveland.
Indiana is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Cleveland.
Indiana is 4-5 against its divisional rivals, while Cleveland is 6-4 against its division.
Cleveland ranks eighth in points per game with 102.6, while Indiana ranks seventh in points allowed with an average of 97.3 given up.
Cleveland and Indiana are well matched, ranking ninth in points per away game and points allowed at home respectively. Cleveland scores an average of 101.5 points on the road, while Indiana gives up 96.4 points at home on average.
In games where they allow fewer than 100 points, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a stellar 26-5. In games where they score fewer than 100 points, the Indiana Pacers have an abysmal record of 7-28.
When allowing 100 or more points in a game, the Cavaliers are just 10-17 this season. Indiana is a winning 16-6 when registering triple digits.
The Cavaliers have the fourth-best offensive rating in the NBA (107.7). The Pacers are also in the top half of the league based on their defensive rating of 101.0 (ranked 10th).
The Cleveland Cavaliers have one of the best field goal percentages this season, ranking ninth in the league with a FG% of 45.8%. When their opponents record a similar or higher FG%, the Indiana Pacers have a losing 7-16 record.
Indiana averages 20.8 three point attempts per game, and Cleveland attempts 26.1 per game. In games where the teams have 25 or more three point attempts, the Pacers have a subpar 3-11 record while the Cavaliers have a 19-15 record.
The Indiana Pacers rank 19th with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.55. The Cleveland Cavaliers have a higher A/TO (1.65), ranking 13th.
The Pacers rank seventh in rebounds per game with 44.8, while the Cavaliers rank 19th with 42.7 per game.
Indiana ranks among the best in the league in defensive rebounds at fourth, while Cleveland ranks a solid 11th in offensive rebounds.
Cleveland has forced an average turnover percentage of 13.3% this season. Indiana has a poor 10-24 record when its TOV% is 13.3% or higher.
