Pacers Primed to Prevail in Return From Week-Long Layoff

The Indiana Pacers are ready to resume their pursuit of Milwaukee atop the Central Division as they host the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. The Pacers (15-14 SU, 14-15 ATS) have seen their past two games postponed due to COVID-19 protocols, but they are slight favorites against a Warriors team (17-15 SU, 16-16 ATS) that has struggled in Indiana over the years.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The Pacers opened as 4-point favorites, but that line has shifted down to -2 at the majority of sportsbooks. The total has held steady at 228.5 in most spots.

Golden State News & Notes

Teams with multiple elite passers are difficult to contain – which explains why the Warriors have been able to keep themselves afloat in the Western Conference despite being without Klay Thompson for the entire season. Golden State comes into the game with an NBA-best 27.8 assists per game, led by Draymond Green (8.3) and Steph Curry (6.2).

The player to watch, as always, is Curry, who has pushed his scoring average above 30.0 for the season thanks to a scintillating February during which he has averaged an incredible 34.6 points per game. When Curry is shooting like this (averaging better than 50 percent from the floor, 45 percent from deep and 95 percent from the line for the month), he’s difficult to stop.

Indiana News & Notes

Postponements against the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets quelled some of the momentum the Pacers had built up with wins in three of four prior to those games being shelved. That said, there’s a definite silver lining in the form of additional rest for big man Domantas Sabonis and guard Malcolm Brogdon, who rank fourth and seventh in the NBA, respectively, in minutes per game.

Look for Sabonis to be the focal point of the Pacers’ offensive attack Wednesday. Not only is he averaging 21.5 points, 11.6 rebounds and 5.7 assists on the season, he is also well-positioned to capitalize on an encounter with a Warriors team that has struggled to contain opposing power forwards. Sabonis had a 36-point, 16-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in his last game vs Minnesota.

Betting Pick: Pacers -2 (-110)

Rest is hard to come by this NBA season – so when a team that relies so heavily on its core players gets a seven-day respite, you can be sure they’re going to come out strong. We’ll take a solid Pacers team at home here.