The Pacers return home after a midwest road trip and some emotional games. The visiting Spurs are on a road trip of their own and have just been waken up by a heavy defeat in Orlando. Which team bounces back might depend on which team finds a new way to make up for their star(s) sitting.
Spurs at Pacers
Spread: Spurs -7 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: over/under 207.5 (-105)
The Spurs fail to show up in Disneyland
The perfect start was a sweet treat that the Spurs had hoped to enjoy on Halloween, but the Magic had other plans. Whether some players became overconfident with the winning, or the Spurs just had a really bad day, remains to be seen, but it was nothing like a poised and determined to show in the prior matches. The Spurs were completely outplayed and lost 87-114 in Orlando, after trailing as much as by 36.
The dam was cracking for a few games, and finally succumbed to the inspired and hot Magic shooters, while the offense couldn’t replicate the performance from Miami. Aldridge was once again the centerpiece, and he actually did well. But unlike the Heat, the Magic were never forced to send double-teams his way, as the Spurs fell behind by 27 points in the first half, so their opponents stayed with the outside shooters. There was no intensity, proper court awareness was not there, and it led to a really sloppy game. The Spurs shot 33.7 percent from the field (30 of 89) and were 4 of 24 from 3-point range (16.7 percent). Making matters worse, the Spurs committed 18 turnovers that the Magic turned into a whopping 29 points. The hot shooting start got Orlando up, and those easy points only nailed it.
It was bound to happen, though it’s odd that it happened in such a dramatic fashion. The Spurs were not going to remain undefeated for long without Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker, who remain without any timetable. The bad thing is that the other team have seen it now, and it will at least temporarily raise their spirits in games against the Spurs. With a trip to Boston and a home game against the Warriors, the hot start may be quickly forgotten if San Antonio doesn’t dust off themselves from this and shine again.
Place: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Date/Time: Sunday, October 29th, 2017. 4:30 PM ET
TV Coverage: Fox Sports Indiana, FSSW
Indiana tries to do too much in OKC, gets slammed
This has been a season of extremes for the Indiana Pacers so far. One night, they light up the scoreboard, the next one, they can’t throw a rock into an ocean. Well, Oklahoma City is quite distant from an ocean, and the Pacers scored 96 points, but it was a far cry from the 130 against Minnesota, or the 140 on the opening night against Brooklyn. They are a team that still learn how to play together, so inconsistency is not all that surprising. After all, the mini-road trip with stops in Miami, Minny, and OKC could be called a successful one, as the Pacers come back home with a 1-2 record.. On the second night on a back-to-back, against a wounded Thunder team, the Pacers couldn’t come through.
Playing against the former face of the franchise (who was nervous and fouled out) and former team, the Pacers had envisioned a game to be remembered, but it should be forgotten quickly for the most part. The team could get their usual transition game going. The Thunder are preaching heading back quickly for years, and are among the top teams in that regard, so Indy couldn’t get going and become comfortable. They grew nervous, argued with officials (who did a fair job in my opinion). With center Myles Turner (concussion, neck) out of the lineup, Sabonis started once again, but couldn’t get it going, saddled by the fouls and 1-of-9 shooting. Bojan Bogdanovic continued his run towards the worst signing of the summer, going 0-for-7 from the field with 5 turnovers in 27 minutes. The backcourt held their ground. Oladipo promised to be ready, and he was – 35 points on 11-of-18 shooting and 5-of-8 three-pointers. Collison continues to play well. Despite the difficult task of running the offense and defending ever aggressive Westbrook, he scored 18 points. The bench didn’t give any support to the starting unit, but it doesn’t seem that they would have made the difference anyway.
The Pacers have not played since Wednesday, giving them some nice time to rest and put in some gym work, but it wasn’t enough for Turner, who remains doubtful to play against the Spurs. They remain in Indiana for the next game as well, when they’ll see Sacramento.
San Antonio Spurs at Indiana Pacers Game Trends & Prediction
The San Antonio Spurs are 3-2 against the spread after laying an egg Orlando. Despite giving up a season-high in points to the Magic, the game total points remained below the projected line, as they matched the season-low 87 points on the offense. This brings them to a 2-3 O/U record this season.
The Pacers also 3-2 against the spread with both of ATS losses came in 96-114 defeats to Western playoff teams. The Spurs fall into this category, but the Pacers usually put in a strong fight against them. On the last few seasons, they have an edge of going 5-1 ATS against them in the last six meetings.
A unique ranking system – AdmiRank helps you understand how good NBA teams are on a scale to 100. When you’re playing at such a high standard like the Spurs do, their rank has to suffer from a such a bad loss. Still, they are obviously much the better side than the Pacers, who will have to show more consistency to even get to an average level.
The Spurs are playing to win, and will be happy to take scrappy ones along with the good ones, while they wait for their catalyst to return to play. It’s different with the Pacers. They are still learning and their performance is dependent on how fired up they are. With the Spurs, it’s all business. I’m not sure that you can use that to motivate yourself in a way the Pacers need it.
While Turner remains questionable for this game, I think that the Spurs should be able to cover, while on the other side, the over also seems like an option to place a wager on.
My Pick: Spurs -7 (-110)
Total: Over 207.5 points (-105)
