The Miami Heat will travel to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to take on the Indiana Pacers. Action begins at 6:00 pm ET on Sunday, Apr. 5 and can be seen on Sun Sports and FSN-IN.
The Pacers played well in their last game, blowing out the Hornets 93-74 on Friday. C.J. Watson played a pivotal role with 13 points, four steals, and two assists. The Heat, meanwhile, are feeling some disappointment after the awful 114-88 loss against the Cavaliers on Thursday. Hassan Whiteside led the team in scoring with 17 points.
Over the last five games, George Hill has taken his game to another level for the Pacers, averaging 18.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 0.8 steals, and 3.0 three-pointers.
The Heat may not find many second-chance opportunities in this matchup. They’re ranked 26th in the league in offensive rebounding (offensive rebound percentage of 23.0%), whereas Indiana is second-best in the NBA on the defensive glass (defensive rebound percentage of 78.2%).
The Pacers lead the season series against the Heat two games to one, but fell short the last time these two teams met, 89-87. In the victory, Luol Deng led all scorers with 23 points.
The odds for Indiana and Miami are even, while the Over/Under (O/U) is currently unavailable. The Pacers have gone 33-43 Straight Up (SU) and 39-34-3 Against The Spread (ATS). They are 24-24 SU and 25-21-2 ATS against the Eastern Conference.
In the other locker room, the Heat have 34-41 SU and 34-38-3 ATS records. Against the Eastern Conference, Miami is 22-23 SU and 22-21-2 ATS. The Heat allow just 97.0 points per game, ranking them fourth in the league.
With the Heat’s last win against Indiana, their SU record is now 6-4 over the Pacers in the last 10 meetings. The teams are even ATS, with a 5-5 record. Indiana held the advantage in field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers three times in the last 10 matchups. On the other side of the court, Miami never accomplished this feat in that span.
Predictions: SU Winner – IND, ATS Winner – IND
Notes
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Indiana’s last 8 games.
Indiana is 3-9 SU in its last 12 games.
Indiana is 4-8-1 ATS in its last 13 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana’s last 5 games at home.
Indiana is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games at home.
Indiana is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games at home.
Indiana ranks 24th in points per game with 96.9, while Miami ranks fourth in points allowed with an average of 97.0 given up.
On average, Indiana puts up 97.6 points per home game (ranked 23rd), while Miami allows 96.1 points per away game (ranked third).
In its last game, Indiana won by a 19-point margin. Miami is 2-10 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. Indiana has a 7-4 record in blowouts.
In games where they allow fewer than 100 points, the Miami Heat are a solid 29-16. In games where they score fewer than 100 points, the Indiana Pacers have a poor record of 12-33.
When allowing 100 or more points in a game, the Heat are just 5-25 this season. Indiana is a solid 21-10 when registering triple digits.
The Heat have an offensive rating of 101.2 (ranked 20th), while the Pacers rank ninth for their defensive rating of 100.7.
Indiana has an average field goal percentage of 43.8%. Miami is a subpar 14-31 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
On average, the Indiana Pacers attempt 21.0 three point field goals per game and the Miami Heat attempt 20.3 per game. In games where they attempt at least 25 threes, both teams have losing records; Indiana is 5-12 and Miami is 4-8.
The Indiana Pacers, with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.59, rank 17th in the NBA. The Miami Heat have a lower A/TO (1.43), ranking 25th.
The Miami Heat are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league with just 38.8 per game. Ranked sixth, the Indiana Pacers average 44.5 rebounds.
The Miami Heat are among the worst offensive rebounding teams (ranked 29th), while the Indiana Pacers are one of the NBA’s top defensive rebounding teams (ranked fifth).
Miami is one of the top teams in forced turnovers, with opponents averaging a TOV% of 15.4% (ranked seventh). Indiana has an abysmal record of 5-17 SU this season when its TOV% reaches 15.4% or greater.