2018-2019 NBA Previews – Pacers Odds
Looking for 2018 Indiana Pacers Predictions? We’ve got your back. Indiana finished last season 48-34, finishing fifth in the NBA’s Western Conference. But while it’s important to look back for context, we need not look back further than July to better understand where the Pacers fit in their division. LeBron James took his talents to Los Angeles, meaning the Central Division is officially Indy’s to lose in 2018-19.
Indiana Pacers Season Preview
Head Coach: Nate McMillan
2017-18 Record: 48-34
Pacers Odds to NBA Title: +12500
Pacers Odds to Win Conference: +2500
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Indiana Pacers Strengths:
The Pacers run a slow, methodical offense. They were just 26th in pace this past season, and while that may sound like a bad thing on the surface in today’s push-the-pace NBA, it’s A) not surprising when you think about the way Nate McMillan played (and coached in Portland), and B) actually a positive trait when you buy into the concept and get the whole team on board, as McMillan has.
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The part of the offense that maybe nobody saw coming is Victor Oladipo’s All-Star-caliber command of the floor. We’ve known the former Indiana Hoosier is a talented player ever since he entered the league, but he’d yet to figure out how to put it all together throughout his stints with the Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder.
With Indiana, Dipo became a household name. This was a huge relief for a fanbase that saw the acquisition of his and Domantas Sabonis’ services a mere last option when dealing Paul George.
One specific area where the Pacers at large found success a year ago was in clutch situations. On the season, Indy played in 44 games that ended in “clutch” situations, which is defined as fewer than five minutes to go and no team leading by more than five points.
In those situations, Indiana had a winning percentage of .591. That number was good enough for sixth in the league, putting the Pacers only behind the No. 1 Houston Rockets, No. 2 Cleveland Cavaliers, No. 3 Golden State Warriors, No. 4 Boston Celtics and No. 5 New Orleans Pelicans.
Indiana Pacers Weaknesses:
The Pacers were a fun story last season, and they have a legitimate chance of winning the Central Division in 2018-19. But here’s the thing: This team overachieved.
On the year, the 48-win Pacers actually played more like a 45-win team, according to ESPN’s Relative Percent Index. According to the mega sports site, RPI can be defined as follows: “The basic formula is 25% team winning percentage, 50% opponents’ average winning percentage, and 25% opponents’ opponents’ average winning percentage.”
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What is this saying? It’s saying that the clutch stats we talked about above should be considered more of a fluke than the new norm.
No, the Pacers aren’t going to have a 100 percent regression and sink to the bottom of the conference. That’s simply not going to happen.
But we can expect a bit of a regression nonetheless. Not as bad as we expected this squad to be when it traded George to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but a step back is a reasonable expectation despite the departure of divisional foe James to the Lakers.
Indiana Pacers Betting Prediction: 47-35
Myles Turner is going to play a huge role in Indiana’s success this season. If the team can find a way to get him to take a significant leap forward—which is not unreasonable considering his two-way presence and freakish physical attributes—50 wins becomes an attainable goal, which would only be two more victories than a year ago.
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If he hovers around his past production, however, (along with the expected slight regression from pieces like Oladipo), a one- or two-game dip can be expected.
2018 NBA Gambling
What do you think about our 2018 Indiana Pacers predictions? Please leave us a comment below telling us how you think they’ll do in the 2018-2019 NBA Season!
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