Thunder vs Pacers Pick, Preview & Betting Odds For Friday, March 31st

Check out our free Thunder vs Pacers pick and preview for this NBA game in Indianapolis. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this NBA matchup.

Thunder vs Pacers NBA Pick & Preview

Sport: NBA
Teams: Oklahoma City Thunder at Indiana Pacers
Where: Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Date: Friday, March 31st
Betting Odds IND +3, OKC -150 | IND +122 O/U nan

The Thunder come into today’s matchup with an overall record of 38-39. So far, the team has gone 44-32-1 against the spread. In the teams past 3 games, their overall mark sits at 2-1. Oklahoma City is 0-3 vs the spread in these matchups.

Oklahoma City is going for another win in today’s game, as they previously took down the Pistons. Going into the game, they were 9 point favorites against the spread. Their 107-106 victory was not enough to cover. Although Oklahoma City trailed the Pistons going into halftime, by the end of the 3rd quarter they had taken the lead. Leading the team in scoring was Jalen Williams, as he contributed 27 points while hitting 57.9% of his shots.

So far, the Pacers have put together an overall record of 33-44, while going 39-36-2 vs the spread. The Pacers head into today’s action in the midst of a 4 game losing streak. Their average scoring differential in these defeats is -18.5.

The Pacers are coming off a game in which they lost to the Bucks by a score of 149-136. However, because they were the 13 point underdogs, they finished with an ATS push. Indiana was not able to turn things around in the 2nd half, as they trailed the Bucks by 13 going into halftime. Leading the team in scoring was Bennedict Mathurin, as he contributed 29 points while hitting 52.4% of his shots.

Head To Head Recap & Stats

In the most recent matchup between the two teams, the Thunder picked up the 126-106 win over the Pacers. The Thunder point margin of victory was enough to cover the spread as 3.5 point favorite. This has been the only matchup between the two teams this season. In last year’s head-to-head meetings, the Thunder averaged 119.5 points per game vs Indiana, which was an increase over their season-long average. On the other side, the Pacers also experienced an uptick in scoring during head-to-head matchups, averaging 119.0 points per game vs Oklahoma City. Across the last 5 matchups between the teams, Oklahoma City has gone 3-2 vs the spread. However, the Pacers actually have a positive scoring margin in these games at +8 points per game. In these contests, they averaged a combined 238 points per game, leading to an over-under mark of 4-1.

Odds & Free Betting Analysis For This NBA Game

The Oklahoma City offense will take the floor in today’s game with the league’s 5th ranked offense at 117.5 points per game. When looking at the Thunder pace of play, they tend to play an up-tempo style of basketball. So far, the team is in the upper half of the NBA in possessions per game, averaging 101.4. Even though the unit has one of the lower effective field goal percentages in the NBA at 53.2%. Their up-tempo style of play has given them enough opportunites to make up for their poor shooting numbers.

Defensively, Oklahoma City has had its problems giving up an average of 111.83 points per game (15th).

Josh Giddey is expected to play a key role in Oklahoma City’s scoring efforts against the Indiana today, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is unavailable. Gilgeous-Alexander is the team’s leading scorer this season with 31.3 points per game. Giddey is 2nd in scoring for the team with 16.5 points per game, which ranks him 80.0th in the NBA. In his 72 games, he has hit 48.6% of his field goal attempts and is grabbing 7.9 rebounds per game.

Indiana will look to continue with their strong offensive play, as they are averaging 115.9 points per game (11th). The Pacers come into the game as one of the league’s better 3-point shooting teams, connecting at a rate of 13.6 made 3’s per game. In addition to their strong outside shooting numbers, the team is playing at one of the fastest paces in the NBA, averaging 100.5 possessions per contest.

Defensively, Indiana has had its problems giving up an average of 114.94 points per game (26th).

This season, the Pacers offense has primarily worked through Buddy Hield and Bennedict Mathurin who are 1st and 2nd on the team in scoring. In his 75 games, Hield is 75th in the NBA at 16.9 points per game. So far, him and Mathurin have accounted for 28% of the team’s field goal attempts while combining to average 33.5 points per contest. In addition to sitting 2nd on the team in scoring, Bennedict Mathurin is grabbing 4.0 rebounds for Indiana to go along with 1.4 assists.