Portland Trail Blazers vs Indiana Pacers Preview (1/6/23): Prediction, Starting Lineups, Odds

Indiana hopes to win its fifth-straight home game when it hosts the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. Below, you can find our game preview, predictions, and picks, as well as both teams’ starting lineups and injury reports.

Portland Trail Blazers Vs. Indiana Pacers Betting Odds

The Indiana Pacers are one-point home favorites against the Portland Trail Blazers for Friday’s non-conference matchup. Indiana has remained fairly healthy this season and will only miss Kendall Brown and Daniel Theis for this matchup. Meanwhile, Portland has had trouble saying the same; it will be without Justise Winslow and Nassir Little, while Gary Payton II and Jerami Grant are listed as questionable.

Portland Trail Blazers Vs. Indiana Pacers Prediction

Had it not been for a late rally in overtime, the Indiana Pacers would have been winners of five straight games. Still, it was a road game against a surging Philadelphia 76ers team, so an overtime loss is by no means a bad loss. The Pacers have been electric recently, averaging 129 points on a team shooting split of 51/41/87 during that stretch of games. They secured wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Clippers, and Atlanta Hawks; all of those came at home.

Indiana’s interesting starting lineup change has worked out marvelously. Since deploying Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and Myles Turner together in the starting lineup, the Pacers have had an offensive rating of 119.9 at home. They are 5-2 in that span, with both home losses coming by five points or fewer. Additionally, those two home losses came against top-ten defenses; Portland certainly does not boast a strong defense.

Meanwhile, Portland has been quite streaky recently, winning merely two of its past seven games. During that stretch, the Blazers lost to Oklahoma City (twice), Denver, Golden State, and Minnesota. Their only wins came at home against two of the worst teams in the NBA: Charlotte and Detroit.

It is difficult to feel good about the direction the Trail Blazers are headed, especially since they are struggling this mightily on the road. Portland has a -6.5 net rating on the road during its past five road games, with a defensive rating of 121.0. On the other hand, Indiana has posted a ludicrous 131.0 offensive rating in its past four home games. I don’t expect Portland to turn things around against such a hot Pacers team. I will take Indiana against the spread and its moneyline. Additionally, I will be hammering the over on the 232.5 point total. This will be a high-scoring game.

Betting Trends

• Portland is 12-10 ATS on the road in 2022-23
• Indiana is 13-7 ATS at home in 2022-23
• The combined over record of these two teams is 35-38-3 in 2022-23

Key Matchups

Check out our key matchup of the game below, featuring Portland’s three-point shooting versus Indiana’s perimeter defense.

Portland’s Three-Point Shooting vs. Indiana’s Perimeter Defense

Indiana’s style of play this season has been very run-and-gun (8th in pace) and three-point heavy (5th in 3PA per game.) That style usually lends itself to lackadaisical defense. As a matter of fact, none of the top eight teams in pace rank in the top ten in defensive rating. Thus, it should be no surprise to hear that the Pacers rank 26th in opponent 3P%.

Meanwhile, one of Portland’s biggest strengths happens to be three-point shooting, as it ranks third in the NBA in 3P%. The combination of Damian Lillard, Jerami Grant, and Anfernee Simons should give Indiana some trouble. Although, I have little doubt that Indiana’s offense and pace will cause an equal amount of discomfort for the Blazers. Slight Advantage: Portland’s Three-Point Shooting.

Portland Trail Blazers Starting Lineup

PG: Damian Lillard
SG: Anfernee Simons
SF: Josh Hart
PF: Jerami Grant
C: Jusuf Nurkic

Indiana Pacers Starting Lineups

PG: Tyrese Haliburton
SG: Andrew Nembhard
SF: Buddy Hield
PF: Aaron Nesmith
C: Myles Turner

Key Injuries

Portland Trail Blazers Injuries: Justise Winslow (Out), Jerami Grant (Q), Gary Payton II (Q), Nassir Little (Out)

Indiana Pacers Injuries: Daniel Theis (Out), Kendall Brown (Out)