We’ve got another exciting Central Division matchup on Thursday’s NBA schedule as the Indiana Pacers will host the Detroit Pistons. Indiana is 31-25 overall and 17-11 at home, while Detroit is 8-46 overall and 4-23 on the road. The Pacers have won the two previous matchups this season after the teams split four meetings last season. The Pistons are 27-27 versus the spread in the 2023-24 NBA season, while the Pacers are 29-25-3 versus the number.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m. ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Pacers are favored by 11.5 points in the latest Pistons vs. Pacers odds, per SportsLine consensus, and the over/under is 246.5 points. Before entering any Pacers vs. Pistons picks, you’ll want to see the NBA predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past five-plus seasons. The model enters Week 18 of the 2023-24 NBA season on a sizzling 60-36 roll on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning nearly $2,300. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.
The model has set its sights on Detroit vs. Indiana. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA odds and betting lines for Pistons vs. Pacers:
Pacers vs. Pistons spread: Pacers -11.5
Pacers vs. Pistons over/under: 246.5 points
Pacers vs. Pistons money line: Pacers: -705, Pistons: +497
Pacers vs. Pistons picks: See picks at SportsLine
What you need to know about the Pacers
The oddsmakers set the bar high, but the Pacers and the Toronto Raptors didn’t disappoint and broke past the 245.5 point over/under last Wednesday. Indiana skirted past the Raptors 127-125. Indiana’s success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Tyrese Haliburton led the charge by shooting 5-for-9 from beyond the arc and dropping a double-double on 21 points and 12 assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Pascal Siakam, who scored 23 points to go along with seven assists and five rebounds.
Indiana’s offense has slowed a bit since a hot start to the season, but it still leads the NBA in points per game and field goal percentage while ranking second in offensive rating. Siakam is shooting a blistering 57.1% from the floor since being traded from Toronto, and he’s filling up the box score with averages of 21.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists with the Pacers. Indiana has seven players on its current roster averaging in double-figures, but one of those in Aaron Nesmith (12.6 ppg) is out on Thursday with an ankle injury. See which team to pick here.
What you need to know about the Pistons
Meanwhile, the Pistons’ recent rough patch got a bit rougher last Wednesday after their third straight loss. They took a hard 116-100 fall against the Phoenix Suns. The Pistons have struggled against the Suns recently, as their match last Wednesday was their seventh consecutive lost matchup. New acquisition Simone Fontecchio led Detroit with 18 points in the defeat.
Detroit made lots of transactions before the trade deadline, but a couple of constants have been Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren. The former leads the team with 21.9 points and 7.5 assists, while Duren is fifth in the NBA with 12 rebounds per game, to go along with 14 points per night. Detroit owns a sparkling 12-4 ATS record over its last 16 games. See which team to pick here.
Key Betting Info
Some of the betting trends to consider are:
The Pistons are 9-4 against the spread in their last 13 games when the spread was between +10 to +13.
The Pacers are 27-17-3 against the spread in their last 47 games after a day off.
The Pistons are 6-4 against the spread in their last 10 games vs teams that win 45-55 percent of games.
How to make Pacers vs. Pistons picks
The model has simulated Pistons vs. Pacers 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Under, and it’s also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in well over 60% of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.