The Indiana Pacers contest the fourth of their five-game homestand by welcoming the Charlotte Hornets to the Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Charlotte enters this game on its second three-game winning streak of the season and is aiming to get on its first four-game winning streak. Indiana was swarmed by the Hornets 127-109 in late November but is still a 7-point favorite in tonight’s game with the total Sportsbook at 219 points.
- The total has gone OVER in nine of Indiana’s last 11 games.
- Indiana allows the fewest points per game in the NBA this season. (103.3)
- Charlotte is 8-4 SU and ATS in its last 12 games vs Indiana.
Charlotte vs Indiana Game Center
Hornets are really struggling on the road
Charlotte eyes its first four-game winning streak of the season having rattled off three straight victories by double-digit margins. Most recently, it played host to lowly Phoenix and handed it a 135-115 defeat, and the 135 points scored matched the season-high for Charlotte. However, the Hornets are away from home tonight where things haven’t been clicking that well as they have dropped seven of their last 10 away games.
The Hornets can be a tough team to cap because they take the fifth-most shots per game, but have the 11th-worst shooting percentage at 45.2. If that number sways a couple percentage points can really be the difference from scoring 105 points and 115 points. One strong area of play that has allowed them to get so many looks at the rim is their great ball possession, averaging just 12.8 turnovers per game ranking second in the association, and that slightly drops to 12.3 in their road games, still remaining second in the league.
Although Charlotte’s offense remains fairly consistent from the road to home, its defense is a different story. The Hornets have a hard time keeping points off the board when they are away from home, surrendering an average of 115.5 points per game which are the ninth-most in the NBA, including the sixth-most shot attempts against and the sixth-highest shooting percentage against.
Pacers have been shooting the ball well recently
Indiana has been searching for what allowed it to go on a six-game winning streak from late December into early January as it has gone 4-3 since. Over that seven-game span, the Pacers had four games away from home as part of a five-game road swing in which they went 3-2. This is the second meeting between these two clubs and after Indiana was embarrassed in Charlotte I’m sure there’s extra motivation for revenge at home tonight.
The offense has come to life recently for the Pacers as they average 108.7 points per game on the season, but that has risen to 112.7 ppg in their last 15 matches. One reason for this uptick in scoring may be as simple as they are shooting the ball more, in fact, they are averaging just over two more shots per game in their last 15. An extra two more shots per game doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but Indiana has had the second-best shooting percentage in the league this season at 48.1 and that has climbed slightly to 49.2 percent in its last 15 which leads the NBA.
Scoring hasn’t been an easy feat for opponents when they visit the Bankers Life Fieldhouse as Indiana has restricted its foes to just 98.1 ppg there this season, the fewest ppg in the league. The Pacers takeaway scoring opportunities by creating the fifth-most turnovers per game, which has led to their counterparts to average just 86.5 shot attempts per game (fifth-fewest) and those teams are hitting just 42.4 percent of those shots (lowest).
OVER trending in tonight’s game
Indiana and Charlotte have been reliable OVER plays recently and Sportsbook has the total Sportsbook at 219 points. That total is the lowest the Hornets have had over their last seven games and four of those matches went OVER 219 points. Meanwhile, the Pacers have gone OVER in nine of their last 11 games with an average combined score of 228.18, with only three games going UNDER 219 points.
Additionally, Charlotte and Indiana had a total of 215.5 when they met at the Spectrum Center and they went OVER that total with a combined score of 236. I think that Indiana is going to hold up its end of the bargain for the OVER tonight, my concern is what Charlotte will show up and whether it will score enough for the OVER, but I’m leaning that way.
My take on Charlotte vs Indiana
I like the Pacers to cover the seven-point spread. Indiana’s defense at home is just remarkable and I don’t think that Charlotte is going to have much of a leg to stand on. The Hornets already struggle with the 11th-worst shooting percentage in the NBA and now they have to try breakthrough the Pacers’ defense that is restricting their opponents to the lowest shooting percentage in the league at home.
Meanwhile, both teams are playing on consecutive nights, but Indiana has remained home while Charlotte had to travel. Additionally, the Hornets are 3-4 SU and 4-3 ATS in the second of back-to-back games, while the Pacers are 5-2 SU and ATS in under the same conditions. Lastly, Indiana has won by seven or more points at home in 14 of its 16 victories with an average winning margin of 15.63.
