Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers 12/27/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-12-27 20:00:00 EDT
The Indiana Pacers play host to the Boston Celtics at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Sunday night.
The Boston Celtics will be hoping to bounce back in this one after getting blown off the court in a 123-95 home loss to the Nets on Friday. Jaylen Bitemn led the team with 27 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Jayson Tatum added 20 points on nine of 22 shooting while Marcus Smart chipped in with 13 points and six assists. As a team, the Celtics shot a miserable 37 percent from the field and eight of 27 from the 3-point line as they took a three-point lead going into halftime, before getting absolutely blown away in the second half where they were outscored by 72-41 as they had no answer for the Nets who held them to just 18 points in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers are coming into this game with plenty of steam as they are now aiming for a third straight win after blowing past the Bulls in a 125-106 road win last night. TJ Warren led the team with 23 points on 10 of 16 shooting, Domantas Sabonis and Victor OIadipo each scored 22 points, Malcolm Brogdon added 18 points with six assists while TJ McConnell provided the spark off the bench with eight assists and three steals. As a team, the Pacers shot a healthy 55 percent from the field and nine of 26 from the 3-point line as they poured in 39 points in the second quarter to take a 10-point lead at halftime, before putting the game out of reach in the third quarter where they outscored the Bulls by 33-15 to lead by as many as 30 points.
Looking at the betting trends, the Celtics are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 road games, 2-5 ATS in their last seven games against a team with a winning record and 1-4-1 ATS in their last six Sunday games. The Pacers are 0-4 ATS in their last four games as an underdog, 5-2-1 ATS in their last eight home games and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall.
Head to head, the over is 4-1 in the last five meetings in Indiana, the Celtics are 4-1-2 ATS in the last seven meetings overall and the Celtics are 3-1-1 ATS in the last five meetings in Indiana.
The Celtics will be keen to get back to winning ways after getting embarrassed by the Nets in their last outing, but they’re up against the Pacers who have looked great in their first two wins of the season. The Celtics are 4-1-2 ATS in the last seven meetings overall, but the Pacers are playing well right now and look like decent value as the home underdogs in this matchup. Give me the Pacers to pull off the minor upset in this one.
