Pacers vs. Suns prediction and odds for Saturday, January 21 (Take underdog)
By Josh Yourish
The Phoenix Suns need to start winning more games, but first they need to get healthy. Beating Brooklyn, 117-112 on Thursday was a good start and got them to 22-24, but they desperately need Chris Paul and Devin Booker back on the court. Cam Johnson getting back would be nice too.
It’s the same story for Indiana, only it hasn’t been going on nearly as long. They’re waiting on Tyrese Haliburton to get back in the lineup and in the meantime, they’re losing games.
Let’s check out the odds for the Pacers and Suns in Phoenix tonight.
Pacers vs. Suns odds, spread and total
Pacers vs. Suns prediction and pick
The Suns are leaning heavily on Mikal Bridges and on Thursday, he came through. Bridges played 42 minutes and finished with 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He’s only averaging 16 points a game, but he’ll need to outperform that again tonight. Indiana was reportedly a team interested in Deandre Ayton last season, but they’re suited to keep him quiet tonight. It’ll be a good battle between Ayton and Turner downlow, and Phoenix doesn’t have the advantage that they need in the paint to win without their top two guards.
In the five games without Haliburton, the Pacers have been 29th in offensive rating, but that’s not the only end of the floor that they’re struggling on. They’re 25th in defensive rating for that stretch. They’re 0-4 against the spread in their last four games, but tonight could be different. They’re at a rest disadvantage and on the road, but how can you rely on Phoenix with how limited they are. The Suns have a -9.6 net rating in their last five games and I don’t trust them to cover a 5.5 point spread against any team in the NBA.
No matter who was getting points in this game I’d be happy to take them, that team just happens to be the Pacers. Hopefully they shoot better than 8/32 from three like they did against Denver and they should remain competitive.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change