Game Time: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 

Venue:  Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: NL

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread: NL

WynnBet: Spread:  NL

Hornets: 26-21, 7th place Eastern Conference

Pacers: 17-31, 13th place Eastern Conference

This Eastern Conference matchup has no bearing on the standings whatsoever.  In a macro sense if the Hornets lose this one they could eventually drop to 8th place… but really?... Really?  It has no bearing.  The Charlotte Hornets are in 7th place and playing better than they have in a long time… They are loaded for the future with a strong young leader in LaMelo Ball and a strong young eventual all-star in Miles Bridges.  The Pacers are at that point is a season where it would benefit them more to simply keep losing.  If they win they don’t jump up… and if they win a bunch?... they still don’t make the playoffs.  So, with the trade deadline looming the Pacers should be sellers of their best player PF/C Domantas Sabonis.  That guy should be in a winning situation and the Pacers should have a treasure chest of future draft picks and young players to build a real team out of.  But then, the Pacers are a team that are a year late on trading C Myles Turner.  Turner was in real demand last season and the Pacers hung on to him… the result is Turner has lost ½ his trade value by simply not playing any better than he ever has, his ceiling is reached.  They can no longer sell Turner’s potential.  Or maybe the Pacers simply lose to get a good pick in the draft and try again next year hoping everyone from TJ Warren to TJ McConnel is healthy again… not likely but it is all maybe for a team this bad.

The Charlotte Hornets are a very exciting team to watch.  The Hornets are in a better spot than  they have been in a long time… but wait?... Didn’t the Toronto Raptors, the New York Knicks, and the suddenly terrible Atlanta Hawks tumble?... Could it be that Charlotte is no better than they ever were?  Could it be that the other teams started to suck?... which left a vacuum that Charlotte was forced to fill…. YES.  Charlotte has a fun, fantastic new young PG leader and a fun fantastic young PF leading scorer… but in reality they are no better than they ever have been until they find a real guy to fill the Center spot…. Or a real guy to play lockdown defense…  

The Charlotte Hornets have 7 wins over their last ten games.  They are also covering spreads as they are 7-3 ATS.  They are on a four-game winning streak, but to illustrate how frustrating they are their last loss was to the Orlando Magic… a team so bad that every player who loses to them should donate their gamechecks to charity…. That charity would go broke by the way.

The Indiana Pacers have suffered from a long injury list all season.  It stinks.  Their head coach Rick Carlisle may be held accountable for not being a world class surgeon.  Their star Domantas Sabonis has spent his entire career filling the stat sheet and flying under the radar because he has had more famous teammates… now that he is the top guy on a squad… his own teammates can’t physically show up for him… Domantas Sabonis is the NBA’s best unfamous player. 

At the risk of sounding "cocky," I've made betting on the NBA look pretty easy this season. Yesterday's winner on Boston gives me a 34-16 (68%) YTD record with NBA sides! Not to be outdone, I'm also 7-2 L9 NBA totals! Though I ended up on the wrong side of Bills-KC, it was a 4-1 Sunday overall! My record over the L13 days is 33-19 with all picks! Go get it! Get Will Rogers’ picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

Charlotte is 26-21 on the season, but 29-18 ATS.  They have been a good bet so far.  They have logged 23 Overs, 23 Unders and 1 Push.  They are 13-14 in road games.

Charlotte is 2nd in scoring with 114.1 ppg, 17th in rebounds with 44.4 per game, and 2nd in AST/TO ratio at 2.1.  They are shooting 12th in FG%, 4th in 3PT%, and 27th in FT%... The problem of course is defense.  Those offensive stats rival the Phoenix Suns (except the FT%)... but on defense they are ranked 28th while giving up 114.2 ppg.  They desperately need to find a Center that can stop shots around the rim and contribute more than 7 ppg.  Desperately.  It’s worth giving up a player and a pick right now to fill that spot before you get too far into this roster.

The Pacers are 17th in scoring with 108.3 ppg, 18th in rebounds with 44.3, and 17th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7. They are shooting 16th in FG%, 25th in 3PT%, and 16th in FT%. They are ranked 17th on defense while giving up 109.3 ppg.

Our prediction for Wednesday, January 26th is…. Hornets 122 - Pacers 104

The Hornets should walk away with this one.  It seems too easy for gamblers but it shouldn’t.  Bet on the Hornets to win.  Avoid the Over/Under as we don’t know which Pacers will show up. BTW the entire Paces starting five are on the injury list… so just bet Charlotte.

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Charlotte is 6-5 ATS versus Indiana over the last 3 seasons.

Indiana is 3-2 ATS versus Charlotte at Indiana the last 3 seasons.

25-22 games in this series have gone UNDER the total since 1996.

4 of 5 games of this series have gone UNDER the last 3 seasons.

Hornets: SF Gordon Hayward (foot) Quest ** PF Jaden McDaniels (ankle) Out

Pacers: SG Malcolm Brogdon (Achilles) Out ** TJ Warren (foot) Out ** PF Domantas Sabonis (ankle) Out ** PG TJ McConnell (wrist) Out ** C Myles Turner (foot) Out

Hornets: PF Miles Bridges, SF Cody Martin, C Mason Plumlee, PG LaMelo Ball, SG Terry Rozier

Pacers:  Sf Justin Holiday, PF Torrey Craig, C Goga Bitadze, PG Chris Duarte, SG Caris LeVert

Hornets

Points: Miles Bridges 20.1

Assists: LaMelo Ball 7.6

Rebounds: Miles Bridges 7.4

Steals: LaMelo Ball 1.6

Blocks PJ Washington 1.1

Pacers

Points: Domantas Sabonis 19.0

Assists: Malcolm Brogdon 5.9

Rebounds: Domantas Sabonis 11.9

Steals: Chris Duarte 1.1

Blocks: Myles Turner 2.8

Hornets: James Borrego

Pacers: Rick Carlisle