The Indiana Pacers (12-5) will attempt to extend a six-game winning streak when they compete against the Portland Trail Blazers (7-12) at the Moda Center. The game gets underway at 10:00 pm ET on Thursday, Dec. 3 and will air on FxI and CNW.
The Trail Blazers lost a winnable game to the Mavericks 115-112 on Tuesday. Damian Lillard recorded 25 points and 10 assists, earning his fifth double-double of the year. The Pacers, meanwhile, are coming off a 103-91 win over the Clippers on Wednesday. Paul George played well and claimed his sixth double-double of the season, accumulating 31 points and 10 rebounds.
George has been on fire over the last five games for the Pacers, averaging 32.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.8 steals, and 4.8 three-pointers.
The Trail Blazers are a small one-point underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 201 points. The Trail Blazers look to improve upon their records of 7-12 Straight Up (SU) and 9-10 Against The Spread (ATS).
On the other side, Indiana has identical records of 11-5 SU and ATS so far. Indiana has done particularly well ATS over its past 10 matchups, going 8-2. The Pacers are one of the top defensive teams in the league, essentially shutting down opponents to the tune of 95.3 points allowed per game. When it comes to stealing the ball, the Pacers are one of the best in the league with an average of 9.4 steals per game.
The Trail Blazers and the Pacers will be facing off in their first head-to-head clash of the season. When they last met the Trail Blazers were winners, bringing their SU record to 6-4 over the Pacers in the last 10 games. The Trail Blazers also hold the advantage ATS with a record of 5-4-1.
Predictions: SU Winner – Ind, ATS Winner – Ind, O/U – Under
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Portland’s last 6 games.
Portland is 3-10 SU in its last 13 games.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Portland’s last 7 games at home.
Portland is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games at home.
Portland is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games at home.
Portland is 7-14-1 ATS in its last 22 games when playing Indiana.
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Portland’s last 10 games when playing Indiana.
Portland is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Indiana.
Portland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Indiana.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Portland’s last 5 games when playing at home against Indiana.
Indiana ranks 10th in points per game with 101.9, while Portland ranks 18th in points allowed with an average of 101.7 given up.
Portland ranks 21st in points allowed per home game (102.1 PPG), while Indiana ranks seventh in points per away game with 103.6.
The Indiana Pacers are 9-2 in games where they allow fewer than 100 points, while the Portland Trail Blazers are winless (0-6) when scoring less than 100.
The Pacers have an even 3-3 record when they allow at least 100 points. When the Trail Blazers reach the century mark, they are 7-6.
The Trail Blazers have a defensive rating of 103.4 (ranked 23rd), while the Pacers rank 11th for their offensive rating of 102.4.
Portland has an average field goal percentage of 44.1%. Indiana is an even 4-4 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Portland Trail Blazers average 26.0 three point attempts per game and are 7-5 when attempting at least 25 in a game. The Indiana Pacers average 23.0 attempts and have a superb record (7-1) when attempting 25 or more.
Portland has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.34 this season (ranked 23rd). Indiana ranks higher with an A/TO of 1.38 (ranked 20th).
The Portland Trail Blazers rebound 45.9 times per game and are ranked eighth. Ranked 16th, the Indiana Pacers rebound 44.1 times per game.
Portland is ranked seventh in defensive rebounds, while Indiana ranks 16th in offensive rebounds.
Indiana is one of the top teams in forced turnovers, with opponents averaging a TOV% of 17.1% (ranked third). Portland has a subpar record of 2-5 SU this season when its TOV% reaches 17.1% or greater.
