Indiana Pacers vs Washington Wizards 10/19/22 NBA Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers meet Wednesday in NBA action at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Washington Wizards have lost 3 of their last 4 regular season openers. The Indiana Pacers have won 4 of their last 6 regular season openers.

The Washington Wizards have made the playoffs once in the last 4 years and enter year 2 under coach Wes Unseld. A healthy Bradley Beal will go a long way for the Wizards, but he’s obviously going to need more help. The additions of Will Barton and Monte Morris were underrated offseason moves and certainly make the Wizards a deeper, better team. It would be nice if Kristaps Porzingis can find his consistency, as he showed flashes last year and finished the season strong. There’s a decent starting five in Washington, but in order to make the playoffs, guys such as Delon Wright, Johnny Davis, Daniel Gafford and Rui Hachimura will have to contribute key minutes. The Wizards may be a season away still, which is a bit unfortunate given that Beal’s time is now at 29 years old.

The Indiana Pacers won 25 games last year and enter the second season under coach Rick Carlisle. The Pacers are in a weird spot, as they don’t know if they want to rebuild or build around their current roster. You hear trade rumors surrounding Buddy Hield and Myles Turner, but they’re still here. You can win with that duo, and Tyrese Haliburton seems to be happy in Indiana. Chris Duarte is fresh off an impressive rookie season, and T.J. McConnell is a nice backup player who can help teams win. It will be interesting to see what rookie Bennedict Mathurin can bring to the table. Basically, the Pacers have an OK roster that can surprise people this season, but who knows what direction this franchise goes over the next month or so.

The Wizards are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 road games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Pacers are 6-13 ATS in their last 19 home games and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall. The under is 6-2 in Wizards last 8 road games. The over is 7-0 in Pacers last 7 overall. The Wizards are 0-5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings in Indiana.

The Washington Wizards will have the best player on the floor in this game, but I’m not in a position to lay chalk with them on the road. The Wizards have some showing and proving to do before I can back them in favorite roles. Also, the Indiana Pacers aren’t a terrible team, as there’s a handful of guys most teams in the league could use. The home team has won 8 of the last 10 meetings between the Pacers and Wizards. Give me the free bucket.