NBA Picks and Betting Tips: Indiana Pacers vs Boston Celtics

As this is a rematch from last season’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics have remained in top form, while Indiana has struggled a lot in the new year. With the Pacers losing again, 119-115 to Orlando, Boston has remained undefeated with a 119-108 win against the Bucks. This game will be played on October 30th at 4:30 A.M. IST in the TD Garden stadium in Boston. Below are our betting odds, player props, and injuries that will impact the game to create a prediction for this matchup.

Key Betting Tips & Predictions

1. Indiana Pacers vs Boston Celtics Moneyline Pick

The Celtics' money line in this game is at -270, while Indiana’s shows +230 which ends up proving how different these teams are in their current form. With the Celtics sweeping the Pacers last season too, they have won 5 combined games against Indiana and proven to hit their money line every single time. As they are looking to start 5-0, a group like Indiana has no real shot of stopping this offense and could risk losing their 3rd of 4 games against Boston in this game. It is worth taking the Celtics money line in this game because they have a major advantage at every position in this game. 

2. Indiana Pacers vs Boston Celtics Point Spread Pick

With the Celtics having a -6.5 spread at 1.77, this should be a great play because they will dominate the Pacers on the scoreboard. With Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown once again showing up after last season’s championship, they have continued seeing an improvement in Derrick White as the third main scoring. Having a leader like Jrue Holiday setting up this offense, the Pacers will have a tough time defending many of these offensive weapons and could allow over 117 points to Boston for a 4th straight time. As Boston is 4-0 against the spread this year, the Pacers are 2-2 and will end up being lower after this matchup. 

3. Indiana Pacers vs Boston Celtics Over/Under Pick (Total Points)

The over/under for this game is 246.5 at 1.88 between the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics. Heading into this game, both offenses have been amazing this year, but the bigger picture is the lack of Indiana’s defense that will help Boston score even more. Even though they will struggle there, many scorers like Siakam and Myles Turner should have a huge game, while Tyrese Haliburton hopes to make it clear that he is back after a rough start to the season. As Boston and Indiana combined for 254 points the last time they met, the score should be around there once again. 

Indiana Pacers vs Boston Celtics Top Player Props

Highlight 2-3 player props that bettors should keep an eye on. Use player stats, form, and matchups to justify your picks.

Myles Turner over 13.5 points at 1.74: As Turner has been one of the most consistent pieces on the Pacer's offense, he continues developing into a great scorer year after year. Averaging 15.0 points per game this season with 47.7% from the field, he should continue being big in the paint as he can create moves on Al Horford to pull up from mid-range. With Siakam drawing a lot of attention and Haliburton hopefully finding him consistently in the paint, Turner will score a ton of points this game. 

Jayson Tatum over 27.5 points at 1.95: With Tatum having another great season as he has averaged 28.5 points a game this season, he will continue being an unstoppable pull-up shooter from all over the floor. As he always ends up the Celtics top scorer, Jrue Holiday’s ability to set up the offense will help him have an advantage against weaker defenders like Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam with Myles Turner already being occupied by Al Horford. Tatum should put in a career-night of scoring during this matchup. 

Indiana Pacers vs Boston Celtics Injury News & Impact

Indiana Pacers Injuries: As the Indiana Pacers don’t have any real injuries impacting their roster, they will have a full unit that looks to turn it around against one of the best teams. 

Boston Celtics Injuries: With Boston still being without Kristapas Porzingis, 20.1 points and 1.9 blocks, as a great two-way center, they will once again have to rely on Al Horford to provide some time of firepower on offense. The one thing about this is that the Celtics have so many other pieces like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown that can score, so this loss won’t be much against a struggling Pacers defense. 

Head-to-Head Trends

As the Celtics have won 3 of their last 5 games against the Pacers, they look to extend it out as Indiana has been at their best this season. In a matchup that always seems to be very high-scoring, a good amount of these games have come down to the wire including 3 with a differential of within 10 points. Although the Pacers are 3-2 against the spread, while Boston is 2-3 this looks like a time when Boston could easily change that. As Boston averaged 126.6 points per game against Indiana in the past 3 games, they should be able to score a similar amount. 

Betting Insights & Public Trends

As we look at the public trends, 73% of the betters are backing the Celtics to win this game against the Indiana Pacers. 

Final Prediction

As the Celtics enter this game having 2 of 3 against the Pacers, this will be a big-time offensive performance from them against a team that has been 1-3 because of their defense. Seeing that Jrue Holiday will stick on Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton throughout, it will be a great matchup for the Celtics guard to win due to his defensive prowess. As a good three-point shooter who can hit his open shots, he can create a lot of those chances with Haliburton usually jammed in those screens. As Al Horford will come up, he has a lot of size over Tyrese and could easily create a pick-and-roll game that would be impossible to stop with Holiday. Having Tatum against Siakam will be one of the biggest matchups because Myles Turner will try his best to lockdown the middle as Horford and Brown keep moving around. Having pieces like Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard who will struggle defending on the perimeter, even bench pieces like Payton Pritchard will keep attacking them from long-range. The only way the Pacers can keep this game close is if Haliburton can once again improve his scoring game and Myles Turner can handle two-on-ones against big men. 

Our Prediction: The Celtics will win this game at a -6.5 spread and the game will hit an over of 247.5 points.