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The San Antonio Spurs will travel to take on the Indiana Pacers in a Friday night NBA matchup at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. With that said, it’s a good time to check out our NBA odds series, which includes a Spurs-Pacers prediction and pick, laid out below.
San Antonio began their season with a lopsided 129-102 loss against Charlotte at home. Gone are the days of Duncan/Parker/Ginobili, and the lone holdover from those teams is head coach Gregg Popovich. Pop is in for a tall task after going 34-48 to fall short of the playoffs last season.
Indiana also fell in the first game of their season, losing 114-107 against the Washington Wizards at home. Indiana suffered through a brutal 25-57 record last season, finishing in thirteenth place in the Eastern Conference. Things do not look much better for this group in the 2022-23 season.
Here are the Spurs-Pacers NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NBA Odds: Spurs-Pacers Odds
San Antonio Spurs: +2.5 (-110)
Indiana Pacers: -2.5 (-110)
Over: 232.5 (-110)
Under: 232.5 (-110)
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Why The Spurs Could Cover The Spread
San Antonio struggled mightily in their opener, shooting just 21 percent from three-point range and 40 percent overall from the field. Fifteen turnovers proved costly in the 27-point loss. Keldon Johnson registered a double-double with twenty points and eleven rebounds, adding four assists and two steals. In his fourth year in the league, Johnson has shown steady improvement year over year, but his shooting has been solid since his rookie season. Johnson shot 47 percent from the field in the opener.
Jakob Poeltl scored fourteen points in 27 minutes. pulling down nine rebounds and dishing out two assists. Trey Jones also added fourteen points with three rebounds, two assists, and a steal. In just sixteen minutes, Doug McDermott was able to total twelve points on 50 percent shooting. Joshua Primo played 26 minutes, scoring ten points and leading the team with five assists. San Antonio struggled mightily from the line, shooting just 71 percent on their free throws. There should be an improvement in that area.
Why The Pacers Could Cover The Spread
Indiana lost a hard-fought game with Washington, falling by just seven points in the opener. Tyrese Haliburton was brilliant in the opener, leading the team with 26 points and seven assists, shooting 56 percent from the field and adding four rebounds. Bennedict Mathurin scored nineteen points, grabbing seven rebounds with two assists and two steals. Buddy Hield collected a double-double, with sixteen points and ten rebounds, the most on the team. Jalen Smith poured in sixteen points while pulling down eight rebounds. Indiana dished out 21 assists in the opener but turned the ball over a brutal fifteen times.
Also, back-breaking in the losing effort, Indiana shot just 67 percent from the free-throw line. The team shot just 40 percent from the field, and 36 percent from the three-point line. Added physicality and better shooting would go a long way in aiding this team to victory. Mathurin turned in the highest +/- ratio, checking in at a +9 rate. Haliburton shot an impressive fifty percent from the three-point land, so possibly working in more shots for him could go a long way in securing a victory. Indiana has a better matchup in this one.
Final Spurs-Pacers Prediction & Pick
Do not expect much from San Antonio in this one, and both defenses were nonexistent in their respective openers.
Final Spurs-Pacers Prediction & Pick: Indiana -2.5 (-110), over 232.5 (-110)
