We saw a heroic performance by the Pacers on Friday as they took down the Knicks in the Emirates NBA Cup, despite playing without their best player Tyrese Haliburton. It was a total team effort by Rick Carlisle’s men, each of the five starters scored in double-figures, with every bench player contributing at least with a point. This team plays a lot better on the road than at home for some reason, Sunday’s early tip against the 76ers will be a challenge for sure. The Pacers are 2-1 ATS in 3 road games as the underdog, they’ll be looking to get revenge on the 76ers who already beat them earlier this season 114-109 in Indiana.
Consistency has been a problem for Philly this past week as they’ve exchanged wins and losses over their last 5 games. The win over Toronto was huge, but it came at a price as they lost big man Joel Embiid to a knee injury. Adem Bona also being out poses a real issue ahead of a game against Indiana, as the Pacers are equipped at the center position with Ivica Zubac and Jay Huff as his back-up. Philly’s 10-3 record does look good on paper, however there are some question marks over the way they execute on offense.
Indy is in a good mood following the win over the Knicks. They also lost the first meeting by just 5 points, which is below today’s spread of 7.5 points. With a clear edge in the rebounding department, I’m happy to take them as road dogs here.
Indiana Pacers vs Philadelphia 76ers Prediction: Pacers +7.5 (-102) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
