Pacers vs. Nuggets prediction and odds for Friday, January 20 (Why to bet under)
By Josh Yourish
I’m not sure if it’s the elevation or having the back-to-back MVP on your roster, but the Denver Nuggets do not lose at home.
They’re 21-3 in Denver this season, the best home record in the NBA. Last time out, they beat Minnesota at home, 122-118, and in that instance it was having Nikola Jokic that was the difference, he finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists. The Indiana Pacers will be happy to have Myles Turner back in the lineup to deal with Jokic, though he didn’t help them on Wednesday. The Pacers fell to Oklahoma City that night, their fifth straight loss.
Let’s check out the odds for the 23-23 Pacers and 32-13 Nuggets in Denver tonight.
Pacers vs. Nuggets odds, spread and total
Pacers vs. Nuggets prediction and pick
The Pacers have been really struggling without Tyrese Haliburton, not just in terms of losing games, but Vegas wasn’t ready for just how bad they’d be without him. Indiana is 1-5 against the spread in their last six games. Four of which came without Haliburton. Over that four game stretch, they’re 29th in offensive rating, only in front of the KD-less Brooklyn Nets. Their defense has also slipped badly for a net rating of -13.2, only two teams are worse in their most recent four games.
Myles Turner returning from his injury should help slow down Jokic, but honestly prime Bill Russell wouldn’t be able to stop the Nuggets’ center. The one area of concern for the Nuggets would be their pace, in their last 10 games, their record is 9-1, but they’re 24th in pace, that won’t lead to a lot of blowout wins. Instead of taking Denver to cover a double digit spread, I’ll go with the under in a game with a terrible offense in Indiana and a relatively slow paced, but hyper efficient one in Denver.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change