Pacers vs. Celtics prediction and odds for Wednesday, December 21 (Under is best bet)
By Peter Dewey
The Boston Celtics have lost back-to-back games and fallen out of the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference heading into Wednesday’s matchup with the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers got off to a great start this season, but the team has dropped to the No. 9 spot in the East, losing seven of its last 10 games.
The biggest issue for the Pacers has been the regression on the team’s offense, as Indiana is now 18th in offensive rating after sporting a top-10 unit for most of the season.
That could be a problem against Boston, who ranks No. 1 in the league in offensive rating this season. Marcus Smart (questionable) is on the injury report for Boston, but the team will have stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown available.
Here’s the latest odds and how I plan to bet on this matchup:
Pacers vs. Celtics odds, spread and total
Pacers vs. Celtics prediction and pick
This total is too high for my liking right now, due to the Pacers have really regressed on the offensive end.
The team has gone UNDER 233 combined points in six of its last 10 games, and the Pacers have fallen to 15th in the NBA in effective field goal percentage.
Yes, Boston is an elite offensive team, but the Celtics have gone under this number in seven of their last eight games.
With Robert Williams III back for Boston, the team’s defense should continue to improve, and I’m not sold on Indiana keeping up with this Boston team.
Indiana is actually 16-14-1 on UNDERs this season, so I’ll ride with that rather than backing a side with this double-digit spread.
Find Peter Dewey’s full betting record here.
—
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.