The Oklahoma City Thunder (42-26) will hit the road to take on the Indiana Pacers (43-25) at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana for a cross-conference clash. The tip is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET and set to be televised on FSN. The Thunder presently own a two-game win streak against the Pacers. Most recently, the Thunder defeated the Pacers 100-95 in December to produce a win as a 1.5-point road favorite.
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Oklahoma City Thunder at Indiana Pacers Overview
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder step into this contest on the heels of a win earned last night in Oklahoma City when they hosted the Brooklyn Nets. Closing as a 6.5-point favorite, the Thunder cruised to a 108-96 victory and produced their third cover in four games while doing so.
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers snapped a two-game losing streak with a win at home two days ago against the lowly New York Knicks. The Pacers were unable to cover as they defeated New York by a score of 103-98 closing as a 10.5-point favorite.
Reasons To Avoid Oklahoma City
Rest will be working against the Thunder here as they are playing this game on one day less rest compared to their counterparts. Moreover, the Thunder will also be traveling nearly 750 miles to play this game and could also be exposed to a bit of road rust as a result. On the year, Indiana has been a very tough team to beat in their own stead as they are 26-9 SU in Indianapolis. The Thunder hovers just over .500 in games outside of Oklahoma City.
Reasons To Back Indiana
Defense is a huge advantage that will play into the Pacers hand in this contest. Indiana remains the best defensive team in the NBA giving up a stingy 103.9 points per game. Contrarily, the Thunder own the 14th- ranked scoring defense giving up 110.9 points per game. Overall, this produces a seven-point advantage in favor of the Pacers.
Moreover, Indiana also owns advantages in the turnover department as well as bench play. Indiana’s bench produces 38.8 points per game compared to Oklahoma City’s 30.6 bench points per contest. Once again, this is a substantial edge for Indiana as this is an 8.2-point differential. All of these ingredients along with rest advantage working against Oklahoma City sets up Indiana to give the Thunder all sorts of trouble.
- Get more details: Oklahoma City at Indiana NBA Match-up
