Hornets vs. Pacers Pick
The Indiana Pacers are locked into the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference for the upcoming playoffs. Will they go into the postseason with some momentum after a victory over the visiting Charlotte Hornets in the regular season finale?
Game Snapshot & Odds
501 Charlotte Hornets +3 at 502 Indiana Pacers -3; 215
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
7:10PM ET, Bankers Life Fieldhouse
TV: FSCR (CHAR); FSIN (IND)
(Odds courtesy of sportsbook YouWager)
Public Betting Trends
As of Tuesday afternoon, 65 percent of public bets are on the Pacers to cover the spread at home. Make sure to check our NBA Public Betting Page for the latest information.
Pacers won first game of home-and-home
Indiana defeated host Charlotte 123-117 only two nights ago as second-year power forward Domantas Sabonis scored a career-high 30 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in 38 minutes off the bench. With the focus on the playoffs, Sabonis might again see a massive amount of minutes against the same opponent as the Pacers would prefer to limit the minutes of veteran players in a meaningless game.
Sabonis has had a solid season after arriving in the Paul George trade. He has split minutes with Thaddeus Young, which has capped his output on most nights. Even so, he is averaging 11.7 points plus 7.7 rebounds and has a PER of 17.44. Expect him to play a vital role as the main production off the bench in the playoffs.
As for Indiana as a whole, it has covered two of the three meetings with the Hornets this season and the over has hit twice.
Oladipo rounding into shape heading into playoffs
Shooting guard Victor Oladipo was having an amazing All-Star season as a centerpiece in return when Indiana traded star Paul George to Oklahoma City last summer. But a back injury in January caused Oladipo to miss four games and his numbers dipped slightly upon his return. But there is a lot of encouragement to be had with his play lately, including last game at Charlotte when he shot a scorching 12-of-15 from the floor and scored 27 points to go with five assists.
Even with one down game, he is averaging 21.6 points plus 6.6 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 3.6 steals over five games in the month of April. He appears to be in top form going into the postseason and will be a vital piece as the Pacers attempt a first round upset.
NBA Betting Trends
Charlotte
The Hornets are 0-4 ATS in its last four games playing on one day of rest. The over is 6-0 in the last six Charlotte games on Tuesday. The Hornets are 1-6 ATS in their last seven games overall.
Indiana
Indiana is 4-0 ATS in its last four home games. The under is 21-7 in the last 28 meetings with Charlotte in Indiana.
Prediction:
Charlotte appears to have folded the tent for the 2017-18 season and it’s difficult to find any motivation for the visitors here. Indiana will likely play its reserves more minutes to ensure health heading into the postseason, but even so this spread seems low considering the Pacers just beat the Hornets by six on the road and Charlotte is disinterested here. I say bet on Indiana as it is the playoff team in this matchup and should take this game seriously considering it has more basketball to play starting this weekend.
NBA DAILY PREDICTION: INDIANA PACERS -3.5