The Indiana Pacers welcome the Brooklyn Nets to the Conseco Fieldhouse. Action begins at 7:00 pm ET on Friday, Dec. 18 and can be seen on YES and FxI.
The Pacers enter this game hoping for similar success after blowing out the Mavericks 107-81 on Wednesday. C.J. Miles was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting. The Nets, meanwhile, are feeling some disappointment after their 104-98 loss against the Heat on Wednesday. Brooklyn still lost despite the best efforts of Jarrett Jack, who recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 assists.
This one isn’t expected to be close when the Pacers, a substantial 10-point favorite, take on the Nets. The matchup has an estimated Over/Under (O/U) of 201 points. The Pacers have the same record (15-9) both Straight Up (SU) and Against The Spread (ATS). They have dominated the Eastern Conference at home, going 7-0 both ATS and SU. The Pacers are one of the best in the NBA in terms of field-goal percentage, shooting an impressive .388 from beyond the arc. Turning to the defensive side, it’s been a struggle for opposing teams to score on the Pacers. The 95.3 points that Indiana’s defense allows per home game makes them the fourth-ranked defense at home. Indiana’s defenders rank fifth in the NBA in steals with 9.1 per game.
As for their opponent, the Nets have a record of 14-11 ATS and 7-18 SU. Against the Eastern Conference, Brooklyn is 4-10 SU and 6-8 ATS.
The conference foes meet for what will be their first head-to-head battle of the season. Brooklyn won the last game in the matchup, bringing the head-to-head record to an even 5-5 SU over the last 10 meetings. With a 6-4 record, the Nets have the advantage ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – Ind, ATS Winner – Ind, O/U – Under
Notes
Indiana is 15-6 SU in its last 21 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Indiana’s last 5 games at home.
Indiana is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games at home.
Indiana is 18-7 SU in its last 25 games when playing Brooklyn.
Indiana is 4-9 ATS in its last 13 games when playing Brooklyn.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Indiana’s last 5 games when playing Brooklyn.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana’s last 5 games when playing at home against Brooklyn.
Indiana is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games when playing at home against Brooklyn.
Brooklyn ranks 28th in points per game with 96.0, while Indiana ranks 10th in points allowed with an average of 98.7 given up.
While Brooklyn scores an average of just 94.8 points per game on the road (ranked 27th), Indiana ranks fourth in points allowed at home, giving up 95.3 points per game.
In games where they allow fewer than 100 points, the Indiana Pacers are an exceptional 12-2. In games where they fail to hit triple digits, the Brooklyn Nets have a subpar record of 3-14.
When Indiana allows at least 100 points, the team has a poor 3-7 record this season. The Nets are at 0.500 when they hit the century mark (4-4).
The Nets have a defensive rating of 104.5 (ranked 19th). The Pacers rank 10th for their offensive rating of 103.5.
On average, Indiana has 100.2 possessions per game and scores 1.035 points on each possession. Brooklyn has both fewer possessions (98.2) and scores fewer points during those possessions (.978).
The Indiana Pacers average an effective field goal percentage of 50.1% this season. The Brooklyn Nets have an underachieving record of 4-13 when opponents have an EFF% of 50.1% or greater.
Indiana has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.41 this season (ranked 20th), while Brooklyn ranks lower at 21st with an A/TO of 1.39.
The Indiana Pacers rebound 43.6 times per game and are ranked 19th. Ranked 12th, the Brooklyn Nets rebound 44.3 times per game.
The Brooklyn Nets rank 11th in offensive rebounding, while the Indiana Pacers rank 17th in defensive rebounding.
Indiana is one of the top teams in forced turnovers, with opponents averaging a TOV% of 16.5% (ranked third). Brooklyn has a losing record of 3-6 SU this season when its TOV% reaches 16.5% or greater.
