The Indiana Pacers (2-3) will travel south to take on the New Orleans Pelicans (2-3) after a big overtime win against the Celtics in their previous outing. Tipoff from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans is set for 8:00 p.m. ET.
The oddsmakers see the Pacers as 4.5-point road favorites over the Pelicans (Pacers -4.5), while the total is set at over/under 232.5 points. Can Indiana rally to win in this let-down spot? Or will the injury-riddled Pelicans overcome their injuries to pull off the upset here?
Read below for my Pacers vs. Pelicans predictions and my NBA picks for Friday, November 1.
Pacers vs. Pelicans Predictions, Picks, Odds
| Pacers Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Over/Under | Moneyline |
-4.5 -110 | 232.5 -110 / -110 | -185 |
| Pelicans Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Over/Under | Moneyline |
+4.5 -110 | 232.5 -110 / -110 | +150 |
- Pacers vs. Pelicans Spread: Pacers -4.5
- Pacers vs. Pelicans Over/Under: 232.5
- Pacers vs. Pelicans Moneyline: Pacers -185, Pelicans +150
- Pacers vs. Pelicans Best Bet: Pacers -4.5
Indiana Pacers
Indy picked up their first signature win of their season against the Celtics on Wednesday. The game saw their offense come to life as Benedict Mathurin came off the bench to score 30 while Pascal Siakam scored 29.
This was a much needed win after losing three straight games and looking lifeless offensively. Tyrese Haliburton’s struggles continued as he was just 2/9 from three. Hali is now shooting just 26% from three-point range through five games.
This will be a great spot for the Pacers offense to keep rolling, as this Pelicans team is very injured and looked lifeless in their two most recent games against the Warriors.
The Pacers should be able to generate lots of clean looks at the rim and from the three-point line and keep their offensive rhythm going in this spot.
New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans struggled to take care of the ball in their 2-game series against the Warriors. They’ve struggled to find consistent offensive shot-making besides Brandon Ingram due to all the injuries they’ve suffered just 10 days into the season.
Jordan Hawkins was essentially their second scorer on Wednesday but even he is questionable tonight. CJ Mccollum, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, Dejounte Murray all remain out in this spot, and now both of their centers, Daniel Theis and the impactful rookie Yves Missi are questionable. This is a nightmare situation for Willie Green, and I don’t see how path to the Pelicans being competitive here.
We should see 25+ shots from Brandon Ingram and I like his point prop over 23.5 points here. Zion Williamson is being priced at 29.5 and I think Ingram has just as much usage as Zion tonight. Zion has been inefficient to begin the season averaging just 89.0 points per shot attempt according to Cleaning the Glass.
That’s the least efficient mark on the team, while Ingram is currently shooting a career high 41% from three while averaging 121.7 points per shot attempt. The Pels would be wise to let Ingram and lead the show tonight as the Pacers don’t have a ton of elite wing-defenders to guard him and he is clearly their most efficient option tonight.
Pacers vs. Pelicans
Betting Pick & Prediction
I was surprised to see this line at -4.5 and really like the Pacers here. They are just 2-3 so motivation shouldn’t be an issue coming off a big-wing over the Celtics.
I would love to see Andrew Nembhard and Myles Turner get ruled in. But if both are ruled out, the Pelicans will still have a talent and experience edge over this Pelicans team that has been forced to play guys from their deep bench.
Monitor the injury report, but if the report goes our way I could envision this ballooning up towards 6.5 or -7. Even if Nembhard is ruled out I don’t envision this going below -3 or -3.5.
This is just an ultra-injured Pelicans team that should struggle to keep up with the Pacers offense, and I really think this line should be closer to -6.
