Indiana at Los Angeles Lakers
Time: 10:30 PM ET, Jan 28, 2014
Spread: IND -10
M/L: IND -600; LAL +400
Total: 205
Betting odds courtesy of Bovada
The Indiana Pacers have the best winning percentage in the league to-date, at 34-9 (.791) and the team will travel to take on the L.A. Lakers in a game that NBA oddsmakers are favoring the Pacers by 10-points.
Indiana has been nearly unbeatable at home, and eight of the team’s nine losses have on the road where it is 13-8 on the year. The Lakers are not especially tough at Staples Center this year, though, and are just 8-11 at home. Los Angeles has lost eight of its past ten games and fell 110-103 to the New York Knicks on Sunday night (Jan 26) despite 24 points from Jodie Meeks.
The Lakers have been especially poor defensively, allowing 106.1 points per game. A lot of this is due to just having one of the league’s worst basketball minds coaching the team, but the Lakers can’t just hope to outscore opponents when the most talented offensive player on the team is Nick Young. With the team 13 games below .500, there is little chance that the team will have playoff hopes still alive when Kobe Bryant returns.
Kendall Marshall has been a nice find for the Lakers, after being discarded by Phoenix. The UNC product has looked very capable of running an offense and he is averaging 10.5 points and 9.3 assists per game in his 17 appearances this season. Young leads the team in scoring with 17 points per game in 28 minutes a night. Veteran Pau Gasol has been reasonably productive and he’s posting 16.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game this season.
Indiana gets it done with defense. The Pacers rank 1st in the NBA in points allowed (90.2 per game) and also 7th in rebounding (45 per game). Due to the immense strength of the “D,” it’s enabled Frank Vogel to field a bottom-third offense and still have a point differential of plus-8.6.
Paul George has continued to make the ascent towards superstardom and is averaging 23.5 points, 6.3 rebound and 3.4 assists per game this season while posting a PER of 22.5. The Pacers backccourt has done a great job on perimeter defensive assignments and Lance Stephenson may join George on the All-Star team this season.
Danny Granger is starting to fight his way back, but at this point it is unclear what his role will be on the team once full healthy. Granger has averaged 8.4 points per game over his last 10 games, but has shot just 38.5 percent from the floor. At this point, Granger is a complete luxury—George assumed his role within the offense. But the Pacers still may be able to get something of value in a trade or at least have another scorer in the second unit, if retained.
Indiana Trends: OVER 4-0 in last 4 when opponent scores 100 or more in previous game; OVER 3-0-1 in last 4 road games; OVER 4-0 in last 4 when opponent allows 100 or more in previous game.
L.A. Lakers Trends: OVER 8-0 in last 8 after allowing 100 or more in previous game; 4-0 ATS in last 4 vs teams with winning SU records; OVER 6-0 in last 6 following SU loss.
Head-to-head: 4-1 ATS in last 5 meetings in Los Angeles; OVER 7-2 in last 9 meetings.
