Atlanta Hawks vs. Indiana Pacers Prediction, Preview, and Odds

The Atlanta Hawks are on the road to play the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. The Pacers won the first game of the regular season 129-114 at home on December 27, 2022. I won $14,619 in parlay tickets in the month of November and hit a 47-1 parlaying to kick off the New Year.

Atlanta lost for the sixth time in their last eight games. They are second in the Southeast Division and 2.5 games behind the top spot. The team is 9th in Eastern Conference and 3. 5 games out of the playoffs. Trae Young is the team's leading scorer with 27.4 points per game. Clint Capela has missed the last 8 games and 12 of last 14. He practiced Thursday. He and Traer Young are expected to play. Atlanta is 21 in scoring defense and 19 in field goal percentage. It is also 19th for three-point percentage and 30th with 10.3 threes per contest.

Indiana Pacers lost to the Knicks Wednesday night. They are 23-19 and in third place in the Central Division. The team is 4.5 games behind Milwaukee for the top spot. It is 7 games out of the playoffs. Daniel Theis is out indefinitely. Kendall Brown has been out since December 7 with a stress reaction. Aaron Nesmith, Myles Turner, and Oshae Brissett are day-to-day. Tyrese Haliburton leads the Pacers in scoring with 20.2 points and 10. 2 assists per game. He is followed by Bennedict Mathurin, Buddy Hield, Jalen Smith, Andrew Nembhard, Goga Bitadze, James Johnson, T.J. McConnell, Terry Taylor and Chris Duarte.

Haliburton is out for the game. The Pacers are the team's leading scorer and their floor general. Atlanta is slumping and they hope to have Young back on the floor for this one. Indiana has played good basketball at home and that gives them the upper hand.

Atlanta has seen the over post a 23-18 mark in their 41 games this season. The Pacers have gone over the total in six of their last eight games. Atlanta is 9th in the league in pace with 101 possessions per contest. Indiana is 8th fastest in tempo with an average of 101.1 possessions.

Chris King has been involved in professional and collegiate sports for more than three decades. He has written books about college basketball, the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, golf and the World Cup. Chris has also been an expert bettor in his career.