The Golden State Warriors are riding a 10-game winning streak into Indianapolis to face the league’s No. 1 defense as 9-point favorites. Golden State looked like the Harlem Globetrotters on the offensive side of the floor in Boston on Saturday against a capable Celtics defense while the Pacers lost in their first game since learning that superstar Victor Oladipo is lost for the season.
- The total has gone OVER in nine of the Warriors’ last 12 games (avg. combined score: 243.5).
- The Pacers are 7-2 ATS in their last nine games as an underdog of 8.5 or more.
- The Warriors are 4-1 ATS in their last five games on the road.
Warriors vs Pacers Game Center
No. 1 Offense Has Been Even Better In January
The Warriors are averaging an insane 129.1 points per game this month through 11 games, bringing their NBA-leading season average to 118.8 points per game.
Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson are all averaging over 20 points per game with Durant shooting better than 50 percent from the floor over the last 11 games. These guys just don’t miss!
With the Pacers’ biggest strength lying in their two-point field-goal defense (No. 5 in the league), you can expect the Warriors to rely even more heavily on the three-point shot tonight – they’re hitting nearly 16 per game for a 40.9 percent efficiency in January.
Pacers Left Searching For Answers Without Oladipo
The face of the Indiana Pacers will be dressed in his civvies for the foreseeable future as Victor Oladipo blew out his quad last week against Toronto and will miss the rest of the season. That means that the No. 21 scoring offense in the Association will be looking to replace his 31.9 minutes and 18.8 points per game.
So roster depth will most certainly be tested in Indiana and Bojan Bogdanovic will be the one most heavily relied on. In the 12 games played without Oladipo in the lineup this season, the six-foot-eight forward from the former Yugoslavia has 20 points per game, up from his season average of 16.1.
My Pick For Tonight
I’m on the Warriors -9 in this game for the simple fact that they look flat-out unstoppable right now and it’s quite possible they are only on the way up, nowhere near peaking.
Golden State’s outside shooting will be too much for a Pacers team that is working hard to keep its head above water, but the test tonight will be just too much.
I also don’t mind an OVER play in this game as I think the total of 226 is a little low. Golden State has been scoring almost 130 points per game and even without Oladipo in the lineup this season, the Pacers have cracked the 100-point mark eight out of 12 times.
