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These two teams have drastic home and road splits. The Pacers are 3-1 at home, but just 2-4 on the road. The Magic are 1-6 on the road, but 5-0 at home. When they played each other in Indiana, the Pacers won by seven points. When they faced off in Orlando, the Magic won by four points. I don’t mind betting the Magic to win outright, but I’ll take a more conservative route and take them to cover the spread.
Who needs Paolo Banchero? We're only kidding, as the Magic are still minus their top scorer. But they're learning to play without him, now three thumping wins in a row for Orlando at the Kia Center, including last night's blowout of the Hornets when Franz Wagner scored 32, and his brother Mo added 18. (Franz is on a scoring surge of 27.5 ppg his last four.) Orlando's defense also superb in the uptick, allowing 88, 94, and 89 points in the three wins. It's also a quick turnaround from Nov. 6 in Indy when the Pacers surged late to claim a 118-11 win. Note Indiana just 1-4 on the road, with losses at the subpar Hornets and Pelicans (and at Orlando Oct. 28). Play Magic
Myles Turner is quietly having arguably the best season of his career, however this combo line is lofty for him, especially considering the matchup. The Magic rank second in Defensive Efficiency, in addition to playing at a fairly slow pace. Orlando unsurprisingly is also extremely stingy on opposing Centers, having surrendered the third fewest PRA to the position on the season. Turner has been held under this combo line in 5/9 appearances this season, including a previous matchup against the Magic.
Franz Wagner has stepped up in place of the injured Paolo Banchero and has scored 20+ points in five consecutive games, while leading his Magic to three straight victories. While Franz has been awesome, this line feels like an overreaction. The Pacers have been a great matchup for potential ceiling games and have invited a lot of high scoring environments, however they're only 9th in Pace of play and have improved defensively.