Pacers vs. Wizards prediction and odds for Saturday, February 11 (Back Wiz at home)
By Josh Yourish
The Indiana Pacers thought that everything would be okay once Tyrese Haliburton got back on the floor, but even their all-star point guard hasn’t been able to steady the ship. Yesterday, the Pacers lost to Phoenix, 117-104 and Haliburton had 18 points and five assists. A well below average game for him. He’s been back for five games and the team is just 1-4 in that stretch. Indiana is 25-32, in 12th place in the East.
The Washington Wizards are 25-29, in 10th. They haven’t seen action since Wednesday when they handled the Hornets, 118-104. They are 1-3 in their last four games, but they’re strong favorites tonight.
Pacers vs. Wizards odds, spread and total
Pacers vs. Wizards prediction and pick
The Pacers offense has been a flat-out mess even with Haliburton.
In the five games since his return, they are 28th in offensive efficiency, which is very uncharacteristic of a Rick Carlisle team. Sometimes these types of struggles are just bad stretches of shooting from behind the arc, because of the league’s reliance on three-point shooting and the ebbs and flows of that aspect of NBA basketball. But that’s not the case for the Pacers, they’re shooting 36% from deep in this stretch which is right in line with their season average.
On the season, Washington is an average defense, and that’ll be good enough with the way that Indiana is playing right now. The Wizards are 15th in defensive efficiency, 14th in scoring defense, and sixth in opponent field goal percentage. Kristaps Porzingis can get exposed in switches, but he’s a legit rim-protector inside and with him anchoring Washington, I like them to force Indiana into bad shots.
The Pacers are 1-7 against the spread in their last eight road games and the under is 5-1 in their last six overall. I like both of those plays, but I’ll take the Wizards as a favorite.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change