Pacers vs. Pistons prediction and odds for Monday, March 13 (How to bet total)
By Peter Dewey
The Indiana Pacers have jumped into the No. 11 spot in the Eastern Conference and are just half a game back of the Chicago Bulls for the final spot in the play-in tournament.
While the Pacers appear to be making a postseason push, they are going to be extremely short-handed on Monday night against the Detroit Pistons. Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, Myles Turner and T.J. McConnell are all listed as out for tonight’s game.
Buddy Hield is listed as questionable.
Myles Turner, Tyrese Haliburton, and TJ McConnell are once again listed as out for the Pacers tomorrow. Buddy Hield (left foot soreness) is now listed as questionable.
— Tony East (@TonyREast) March 13, 2023
Both sides are dealing with a plethora of injuries, as the Pistons won’t have Jaden Ivey, Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks, Marvin Bagley III, Isaiah Stewart, Hamidou Diallo or Cade Cunningham.
These teams matched up on Saturday, with the Pacers coming away with a 121-115 road win, handing Detroit its 11th straight loss.
Indiana is a slight favorite again on Monday night, but can it sweep this back-to-back against the Pistons?
Here are the latest odds and my favorite bet for this game:
Pacers vs. Pistons odds, spread and total
Pacers vs. Pistons prediction and pick
I think there is some serious value on the total, even though the game on Saturday went well above this number of 228.
A big first quarter helped propel this game OVER, but I don’t see a similar result happening on Monday.
For starters, the Pacers offense suffers mightily when Haliburton is out of the lineup.
On the season, Indiana has an offensive rating of 113.6, good for 18th in the NBA. However, when Haliburton is out of the lineup that drops to 110.7, which would rank 26th in the NBA.
As for Detroit, the team is 27th in the league in offensive rating and now down most of its leading scorers in this game.
Sure, the Pistons have struggled on defense which technically could help push this game over, but if Hield sits, I question either team’s offense and proving scoring on the floor.
Detroit has also gone UNDER this number in six of its last 10 games. I’ll fade both banged up rosters on Monday night.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.