Pacers vs. Wizards prediction and odds for Friday, Dec. 15 (Back Indiana to bounce back on road)
By Jovan Alford
The Indiana Pacers will play the third leg of their four-game road trip tonight against the Washington Wizards. If you enjoy fast pace basketball, with little to no defense, this is the game for you.
The Pacers defeated the Wizards, 143-120 to open up the regular season on Oct. 25. Bruce Brown led Indiana with 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from deep. Tyrese Haliburton chipped in with 20 points and a team-high 11 assists.
The Pacers opened as a 7.5-point road favorite over Washington, but that number has moved to 8.5 ahead of tonight's tip-off.
Can Haliburton and the Pacers pick up another blowout win over the Wizards? Or will Washington snap its six-game losing streak tonight?
Here are the odds and our best bet for Indiana-Washington:
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Pacers vs. Wizards odds, spread and total
Pacers vs. Wizards how to watch
- Date: Friday, Dec. 15
- Game Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
- Venue: Capital One Arena
- How to Watch (TV): MNMT, Bally Sports Indiana
- Pacers Record: 13-9
- Wizards Record: 3-20
Pacers vs. Wizards injury reports
Indiana Pacers injury report
- Andrew Nembhard – Out
- Jalen Smith – Out
Washington Wizards injury report
- Johnny Davis – Out
- Eugene Omoruyi – Questionable
- Jordan Poole – Questionable
- Ryan Rollins – Out
- Landry Shamet – Out
- Delon Wright – Out
Pacers vs. Wizards key players to watch
Indiana Pacers
Tyrese Haliburton: The young point guard is making a case to be in the running for MVP this season. Haliburton is averaging 26.1 points, 12 assists (leads NBA), and 4.3 rebounds per game. He’s also shooting a career-high 52% from the field and 43.9% from deep. The former Iowa St. standout has the Pacers (13-9) with the fifth-best record in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. If he continues to play at this level, we should expect the Pacers to be a force reckoned with for the rest of the season.
Washington Wizards
Bilal Coulibaly: The 19-year-old rookie is coming into his own, which is a positive sign for the Wizards’ future. Coulibaly is known for his defense skills but has improved his scoring from November (8.9 ppg) to December (13.2 ppg). Through five games this month, Coulibaly is shooting 60.5% from the field and 40% from 3. On Wednesday night against the Pelicans, he knocked down a career-high four 3-pointers in a 20-point loss.
Pacers vs. Wizards prediction and pick
There isn’t much to say about the Wizards this season except that they are a bad basketball team. They are tied with the Spurs for the second-worst record in the NBA and have lost six straight games entering tonight’s matchup.
During this latest losing streak, the Wizards are being outscored by 24.2 points per game. They are also 2-4 against the spread, with the OVER hitting five out of their last six games.
As for the Pacers, their defense was non-existent on Wednesday night as the Bucks cruised to a 14-point win. Indiana has one of the best offenses in the league, but the caveat is they don’t play great defense (125.5 points per game allowed). That being said, bettors should expect the OVER on the total to be in play tonight, which is 9-1-1 on the road for the Pacers.
I don’t see the Wizards slowing down Haliburton and Co. tonight, as we saw this same Pacers team defeat them by 23 points in the regular season opener in October. As much as I want to take the OVER, I’ll play it safe by taking the Pacers to cover the spread. Indiana is 6-4-1 ATS on the road this season but 3-0 ATS when the spread is between -10 to -7.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.