Indiana Pacers vs Brooklyn Nets Prediction

It’s an all-Eastern Conference affair in the NBA on Monday night as the Brooklyn Nets look to avoid losing their 5th game in a row against the Indiana Pacers who have won their last two. Tip-off is scheduled for 7.30 pm ET on NBA TV.

These two teams actually met on Saturday in Brooklyn and it was Indiana that came out on top 125-116 thanks to a big night from Bennedict Mathurin who scored 32 points off the bench. Tyrese Haliburton also contributed with 26 and 8 assists to give Indiana their 3rd win of the season. They are actually ahead of the Nets in the East standings, something that not a lot of people predicted when the season was starting. This will be the final game of the 5-game road trip the Pacers are currently on and with a 9-1 ATS record in the last 10 meetings in Brooklyn optimism is high among their ranks. There are injury concerns though as T.J. McConnell, Myles Turner and Aaron Nesmith are all questionable, while Daniel Theis will miss tonight’s game.

The Nets held a players only meeting following Saturday’s defeat against Indiana which extended the losing streak to 4 games in a row. The play of Ben Simmons has been a particular lowlight as he is still trying to shake off the rust caused by sitting out the entire year last season. Kyrie Irving was able to drop 35 points, including 5 threes against the Pacers as he continues to play well early on in the season. Kevin Durant didn’t have the best of games with a sub-par shooting night, so I am expecting him to bounce back here. The Nets do have a 7-3 SU record in the last 10 meetings with the Pacers, however covering the spread has been an issue in home games for a while now as they’ve done so only once in their last 8 attempts. There are good news on the injury front though as Seth Curry finally made his season debut on Saturday following an ankle injury.

It has to be the Nets here right? They simply cannot afford to lose their 5th game in a row. If that were to happen head coach Steve Nash could very easily get fired. Despite the poor start to the season I’m taking Brooklyn to bounce back here and beat the Pacers by at least 9 points.

One of the big reasons why the Nets have been so bad this season has been their lack of effort on the defensive end. Their last 4 opponents Indiana, Dallas Milwaukee and Memphis are averaging 124.5 points per game, which would rank well below what the worst team in the NBA allowed per game last season. Their approach on that end definitely needs to change, whether or not that’s up to the coach or the players simply giving more effort that remains to be seen. Against the Pacers I’m expecting another high scoring game, as that’s just how these two teams play when they face each other. The total has gone over in 5 of the last 6 meetings and the 3 most recent games are averaging 250.3 points per game which is well above tonight’s projected total of 237.5 points. Brooklyn has gone over the total in 5 of 7, while the Pacers have done so in 11 of their last 14 overall and in 12 of 16 vs Eastern Conference opponents. Let’s back the points here.

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