The Philadelphia 76ers wrap up a quick two-game road trip tonight vs the Indiana Pacers and seek to get their first away game victory of the 2018-19 season. The Sixers have dropped all five of their road games so far and haven’t fared well when taking the court at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, dropping eight straight with their last win coming back in 2013.
The Sixers opened as a 2.5-point underdog with a total of 216.5.
- The Sixers are 0-5 SU and ATS in 5 road games this season.
- The Pacers are 8-2 SU and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games vs the Sixers.
- The UNDER has hit in the Pacers’ last five games.
Sixers’ Road Woes Becoming a Concern
Road wins are crucial to any successful team in the NBA and in order for the Philadelphia 76ers to be considered a contender, they need to finish the season with a record of .500 or better in away games. The Sixers have lost five straight on the road this season by an average margin of 15.2 points per game and are shooting a woeful 29 percent from three-point range in those contests.
The one-two punch of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons is playing at a high level but Simmons’ lack of scoring this season is starting to become worrisome for Sixers backers as the second-year forward is only averaging 13.7 points per game compared to 15.8 last year. That figure was expected to increase in order to make up for the loss of key bench players like Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova and if defenders can sag off Simmons and focus on Embiid, it will hamper the Sixers going forward. It may be hard tonight to endorse Philly on the spread until it proves it can beat a good team on the road.
Pacers Have Owned This Matchup Lately
One of the calling cards for the Pacers this season has been their defense as they’re playing lights-out on that side of the court by holding teams to 102.3 points per game (ranked third) while limiting squads to 43.7 percent from the field (ranked sixth). This has pushed them to a 7-4 SU record which places them third in a suddenly competitive Eastern Conference.
Where they’ve fallen short is on the offensive side of the ball as the Pacers rank 24th in points per game (106.6) and outside of Victor Oladipo, the secondary scoring isn’t there yet. Oladipo is scoring 23 points per game with Domantas Sabonis chipping in 13.9 points for second on Indiana’s roster. The offseason addition of Tyreke Evans has yet to pay dividends with the ninth-year guard only notching 11.3 points, which is not what Indiana had in mind when it signed him to a one-year, $12-million contract in July.
While the scoring issues should correct themselves as the season goes along, what hasn’t been an issue for the Pacers is how they match up vs the Sixers. Indiana has owned Philly recently, winning eight of the last 10 games in this matchup while going 7-3 ATS. If you isolate this to just when they face off at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indy has wiped the floor with them by winning eight straight with an average win margin of 11.6 points per game. If you’re going to take a spread tonight, stick with the Pacers.
UNDER Bettors Profiting When Pacers Take the Court
The total opened at 216.5 and while taking UNDERs in today’s NBA seems like a foolish wager, it may be the best option for this one. The UNDER has hit in the Pacers’ last five games with an average combined score of 202.2 points per game. When Indiana plays at home, the UNDER has hit in four of their five games in the Hoosier State this season with an average combined score of 205.8 so bettors should anticipate a low-scoring affair tonight.
My Pick Is…
To take the Pacers to cover the -2.5-point spread. The Sixers have been snake-bitten when suiting up in Indiana and seem like a different team when playing in away games this season. I expect the Pacers to take care of business and get their eighth win of the season by eight to 10 points.
