Indiana Pacers vs Charlotte Hornets Predictions and Odds Jan 26
Indiana Pacers vs Charlotte Hornets Betting Preview
WagerTalk NBA handicapper Tony Finn offers his Indiana Pacers vs Charlotte Hornets betting preview for Wednesday, January 26. At the time of posting, the Hornets have opened as a 1.5-point road favorite over the home Pacers, with the total sitting at 228 points.
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| Wednesday, January 26 | NBA Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Point Spread: | Indiana Pacers +1.5 vs Charlotte Hornets |
| Total: | 228 Points |
| Game Time: | 7:10pm ET / 4:10pm PT |
| Arena: | Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN |
| TV: | Bally Sports Indiana |
Indiana Pacers vs Charlotte Hornets Analysis
The Charlotte Hornets (26-22, 7th in East) and the Indiana Pacers (17-31, 13th in East are in downtown Indianapolis this January 26, Wednesday night for an Eastern Conference showdown that is scheduled to tipoff at 7:00pm ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
On Tuesday night, the Hornets suffered a 125-113 loss to the Raptors in Toronto. The Pacers enter tonight’s conference contest after closing their latest road trip losers of two straight, in Phoenix to the Suns and Monday night in the Big Easy to the Pelicans.
This season, the Pacers have found little success when matched up against Eastern Conference foes. Indian is 8-22 against the East and aims to reverse the trend tonight against a Hornets troupe that owns a 17-12 mark against conference foes.
Tonight’s matchup is the fourth and final regular-season event between the two franchises. The Hornets won the last meeting 116-108 on December 30, with Terry Rozier scoring 35 points in the win.
Charlotte is 0-8 on Second Leg of Back-to-Backs
The Hornets will be without Gordon Hayward: out (foot), who has been ruled out for tonight’s game, while Jalen McDaniels: out (ankle) didn’t make the trip with the team.
Charlotte has not yet won the second of consecutive games in back-to-back nights. The Hornets have zero wins in eight attempts and are 2-6 against the number in this situation. That situation is front and center tonight. Charlotte has allowed opponents 125.38 points per game in the 2nd tilt of back-to-back this season.
The Hornets have dropped two games in a row and allowed an offensively challenged Toronto team without their leading scorer, VanFleet, to register a 125-113 home victory.
The Pacers Need the Return of Their Walking Wounded
The Indiana Pacers are hit and miss, hot and colt, Dr. Jeykle and Mr. Hyde. The Pacers can’t rub two wins together to gain the necessary momentum to make a significant run-up of the Eastern Conference standings. Indiana lost the final two games of their just-concluded 2-3 five-game road trip.
“Overall, the trip had a lot of positives,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I love the spirit we played with on this trip. We need to bring that home on Wednesday.”
The Pacers have been playing short-handed and have suffered from playing small ball without key bigs to protect the rim. On Saturday, Indiana surrendered a season-high 66 points in the paint to Phoenix, and Monday was doubled up in paint points when the New Orleans Pelicans scored 64 points at the rim to the Pacers 32.
When asked what the team can do to be more defensive at the glass, Carlisle said the Pacers tried a smaller lineup at times to cut off drives into the lane but that there is more than one way to defend a “small-ball” approach.
“Protecting the paint is going to be an ongoing emphasis, an ongoing theme for us,” added Carlisle. “It’s a challenge in this league, with all the skill, with all the speed going downhill.”
The Pacers are still without T.J. McConnell: out (wrist), Domantas Sabonis: out (ankle), Myles Turner: out (foot), T.J. Warren: out (foot/health and safety protocols), and Malcolm Brogdon: out (Achilles) making it difficult to halt their current two-game slide.
Indiana Pacers vs Charlotte Hornets Prediction
The Hornets lose their ninth straight 2nd-leg of a back-to-back this season, allowing the home dog Pacers to record a straight-up win and against the spread cover tonight in downtown Indiana.
The WagerTalk pick to click is a play on the Pacers plus the points.
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Wednesday on WagerTalk TV:
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Indiana Pacers vs Charlotte Hornets Preview from GoldSheet
After it was mostly seashells and balloons (as Al McGuire would have once described it) for the Hornets lately, Charlotte has hit a detour this week, with an unsightly home loss to Trae Young and the Hawks on Sunday before getting bounced last night north of the border vs. the Raptors. All of this after wins in seven of the previous eight games, when formidable teams such as the Bucks (twice), Sixers, Knicks, and Celtics were all vanquished.
The alarms are now sounding in the office of HC James Borrego, however, as the defense has mostly disappeared in these recent two losses after keying the preceding surge while ranking second defensively (just 102.6 points allowed per 100 possessions) across that 8-game stretch, and Toronto hitting nearly 53% from the floor last night.
The good news for the Hornets is that they’ll be facing a Pacers team likely minus key cogs Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis, who both did considerable damage when combining for 61 points the last time these sides saw one another on opening night way back on October 20 (Charlotte surviving 123-122). Indiana did stay mostly competitive when shorthanded on its recent road trip, even winning at Golden State with a stripped-down lineup.
Center Myles Turner has also been out the past week with a left foot injury and is doubtful as well tonight as Rick Carlisle can’t seem to keep his roster healthy. But as it’s probably too soon to issue any S-O-S after two losses following an extended uptick, and at a negligible price tonight, Charlotte still looks the preferred option here. “Totals” alert– Hornets “under” 7-2 last 9 and 11-4 last 15, though did go “over” in last night’s game vs. the Raps.
NBA Stat Sheet
Each day, WagerTalk handicapper Ralph Michaels puts together his NBA Stat Sheet, which offers a head-to-head comparison for how teams are performing in a number of key areas heading into a game. Check out Wednesday’s sheet, with notes on tonight’s Indiana Pacers vs Charlotte Hornets contest.
NBA Betting Strategy
Ride the hot and fade the cold. Which advanced stats should you be paying the most attention to? Kelly Stewart sat down with Teddy Covers and Skee Profit to discuss some of their favorite NBA betting tips.
NBA Odds Screen
WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the NBA point spreads, moneylines, first half lines and betting percentages for all of Wednesday’s NBA games, including this Indiana Pacers vs Charlotte Hornets showdown, from your desktop or phone.
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