- The Indiana Pacers are -150 home favorites against the Charlotte Hornets.
- The Hornets are 3-point underdogs and come back at +130 on the moneyline.
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers will host the Charlotte Hornets in a win-or-go-home game in the new NBA play-in tournament on Tuesday night.
What’s On The Line
The winner of this matchup will face the loser of the Celtics/Wizards game for the final spot in the playoffs. Whoever loses this game will have their season ended. If the winner of this game happens to win the next game as well, the grand prize is a seven-game series against the No. 1 seed Philadelphia 76ers.
The Betting Odds
Online sportsbooks list the Indiana Pacers as -150 favorites and have the Hornets as +130 underdogs. The spread is set at IND -3 and the total is 228.0 points which means that sportsbooks are projecting a score around 116-113 in favor of the Pacers.
Pacers vs Hornets Betting odds
- Moneyline: IND -150, CHA +130
- Spread: IND -3
- Total: O/U 228
Will The Pacers Win/Cover?
The Pacers have home-court advantage in this matchup, but actually struggle on their home court with a record of 12-23 at home. Indiana lost seven of their last 12 games of the regular season while the Hornets ended the season having lost five straight and nine of their last 12.
With both teams struggling, it’s tough to project how the game will play out, but the Pacers seem to be the better team on paper as well as in terms of recent play. A team never wants to enter the postseason on a five-game losing streak but that’s exactly where Charlotte finds itself.
NBA betting sites peg the Pacers as three-point favorites and might be undervaluing Indiana at the same time. The Hornets last three wins are against the Magic and twice against the Pistons who are the two worst teams in the Eastern Conference.
Pick: Indiana Pacers -3 (-110)
Advertising Disclosure
USAOnlineSportsbooks.com provides you with the most current information regarding sports betting and fantasy with the help of commissions we receive from links you may click on our site.
Over or Under 228 Points?
The Pacers have the sixth-highest scoring team in the league with 115.3 points per game while the Hornets rank 23rd in points per game with 109.5. Indiana also allows the sixth-most points per game with 115.3 and the Hornets allow 111.4 points per game, the 14th fewest in the league.
Only three of the Hornets’ last 10 games have gone Over 228 points and have an average total of 219.5 points per game. However, only three of the Pacers’ last 10 games have gone Under 228 with an average total of 242.3 points.
This will likely come down to which team dictates the pace of play. Both teams like to run in transition, but in half-court Charlotte slows things down a lot more than Indiana does. In these types of games, if Indiana gets a lead, it will force Charlotte to play up-tempo and therefore there will be more possessions to go around.
Pick: Over 228.0 (-110)
How to Watch
The game is set to top-off at 6:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday and will be broadcasted on TNT.
Nick got involved with the world of sports at a young age and never turned his back on it. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Broadcast/Journalism. In his free time, you can catch him at the bottom of the leaderboards on any video game he’s playing.
