Thunder vs. Pacers Prediction
Will the Oklahoma City Thunder continue their early season struggles when they face the Indiana Pacers tonight at 7PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, this game is considered even, as both Oklahoma City and Indiana are not getting points. The over/under total for the game has been set at 214.5 points. The home team has won two straight meetings in this series, while OKC covered in both games, including a 114-96 win this season. Tonight’s game takes place from Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana and will air live on ESPN.
OKC is coming off a 116-103 loss at home to Charlotte. The Thunder have lost two of their last three games and are just 12-14 this season. Oklahoma City has failed to cover in nine straight games and is now 8-18 ATS. The Thunder average 101.8 points per game on offense and allow 99.6 on defense. Russell Westbrook is leading the team with 23 points, 9.1 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game. Paul George is adding 20.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
Indiana has won four straight games to improve to 16-11 on the season. The Pacers have covered the spread in four of their last five games and sit at 17-10 against the spread on the year. Indiana is scoring 109 points per game on offense while allowing 107.5 on defense. Victor Oladipo is averaging 24.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4 assists per game to lead the team while Bojan Bogdanovic is adding 14.6 points per game.
The records indicate that Indiana is the better team, but I feel that the Thunder are set to finally get on track. New roster additions can take time to develop and I think that is why the Thunder have struggled. With George returning to Indiana, I would expect him to have a big breakout game and give Westbrook the help he needs. The public betting siding with the Pacers, but I like OKC to come away with the win.
NBA DAILY PREDICTION: OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER EVEN