Washington Wizards vs Indiana Pacers betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA Game on ESPN. Bradley Beal and his Wizards are hoping to stay unbeaten at home as they host the Indiana Pacers who are yet to win a road game this season. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Washington Wizards
Being 6th in the Eastern Conference after 4 games played is an encouraging sign for the Wizards fans who didn’t have high hopes heading into this season. For the first time in a while their leading scorer isn’t Bradley Beal, instead Kyle Kuzma has taken over the reigns on offense and is currently scoring a team high 21 points per game. That’s not the only help Beal is getting this season. Kristaps Porzingis is also making an impact with 16.8 points per game while two more bench players are averaging double-digits in the points department.
Playing team ball is paying off for the Wizards who have improved dramatically on defense this season. They are allowing just 105.8 points per game which ranks them 6th in the league, last season they in the bottom half of the NBA allowing 112 per game. Against tonight’s opponent they have a really solid record against the spread having covered in 5 meetings in a row.
Indiana Pacers
Everyone is expecting the Indiana Pacers to tank their way into the lottery this season and so far through 5 games they haven’t disappointed with a 1-4 record. They are coming off back-to-back losses at Philadelphia and Chicago by an average of 15 points and are still without a road victory this season in two attempts. Tyrese Haliburton has been the lone bright spot averaging 22.6 points and 10 assists per game, it is pretty clear that the Pacers don’t have a lot of incentive to win games this season so the main focus will be on developing the younger guys. They have just 1 win over their last 15 games dating back to last season, plus on the road they’ve lost 7 on the bounce and are just 1-9 SU in their last 10 vs Eastern Conference opponents. They’ll be without the injured Daniel Theis who has a knee problem, which means defending the paint could be a problem here.
Anything but a Wizards win here would be a big surprise for me. This team is actually trying to win and make the postseason, while the Pacers are hoping to lose as many games as possible to get a high pick in next seasons loaded draft class. Take the home team to cover the points.
Washington Wizards vs Indiana Pacers Predictions & Odds
There have definitely been some signs of improvement on defense by the Wizards so far, but they are playing a team that focuses mainly on scoring the ball tonight so we could seen an inflated score line here. These two teams have been involved in some high scoring games lately with the last 10 meetings producing an average of 247.7 points per game and 7 overs compared to just 3 unders. Only the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors are allowing more points per game this season than the Indiana Pacers who are giving up 122 per game, both at home and on the road.
Their last 2 opponents scored 19 and 16 threes on them, which isn’t all that surprising considering they are dead last in the NBA allowing 45.8% of makes after 4 games played. The total has gone over in 9 of their last 12 games dating back to last season and with the last 7 of 9 meetings with the Pacers all cashing on that bet, I think backing the over is the way to go in tonight’s game. Lay the points.
