Game Time: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 

Venue:  Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread: Suns -11.5; O/U 220

BetMGM:  Spread:  Suns -10.5; O/U 219.5

VegasInsider:  Spread: Suns -10.5; O/U 220

WynnBet: Spread: Suns -12; O/U 219.5

Two conferences clash in a battle between the one of the worst teams in Eastern Conference and the best team in the Western Conference… possibly the best team in the league.  The result is predetermined.  The question is not if the Phoenix Suns will win the game… but by how much?... Will they cover the spread?... Let’s look at the numbers to get a solid prediction.

The Indiana Pacers are a bad team with good players.  Indiana is also coached by Rick Carlisle who is a good coach.  Coach Carlisle goes by the traditional book… play defense, take good shots, and TEAM first.  His exit from Dallas last year and being replaced by Jason Kidd is a hilarious farce.  That is the equivalent of replacing the Eagle Scout as the high school hall monitor with Danny Zucko.  The Indiana Pacers have only won 3 of their last 10 games.  They are in a bad spot… never quite getting everyone off the injury list… never quite being able to maximize the talent of C/PF Domantas Sabonis, who would be in the MVP discussion if he were on a winning team.  19pts, 12 rbs a game isn’t the MVP winner… but 57.7 FG% is pretty great and he is such a team first guy that he would fall into the Steve Nash category from those MVP wins from over a decade ago… where the overall stats and PER counted for more than scoring 25-30 pts a game. Still the Pacers are not w winning team.  There is an interesting angle to their last game… They beat the Golden State Warriors 121-117, a game that they were 16.5 pt underdogs in!!  The game before they beat the Los Angeles Lakers (the famous “should we fire the coach?” Lakers game) 111-104 while they were 3.5 pt underdogs… earlier this ten game stretch the Pacers beat the Celtics while being a 5 pt underdog… they also covered an 8.5 spread against the Brooklyn Nets and covered a 9 pt point spread against the Boston Celtics…. so , basically with the Pacers they cover large spreads… win or lose they cover big spreads.

The Phoenix Suns have a perfectly balanced team.  They are 3rd in scoring while being 5th in defense.  They score 112.5 a game while only allowing 104.5 ppg from opponents.  They also are winners of 8 of their last ten games and have won on the spread 7 of the last 10 times…. During that stretch they easily covered two double digit spreads against the Detroit Pistons (a terrible team) and the Los Angeles Clippers (without Paul George).  The one large point spread the Suns did not cover was against the Miami Heat… in fact they lost 123-110… that’s a 22.5 pt swing in a game the Suns were favored by 9.5 pts.  So the forensics of this team is they beat and cover large spreads, unless they have a total collapse.  The total collapse on January 8th was simply that Heat guards Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro got off for 28 and 26 points respectively on a great shooting night… the 9.5 spread in favor of the Suns was because Heat SF Jimmy Butler missed the game on IR.

Al McMordie's 122-92 his last 214, and is loading up on a TV GAME in the NBA on tonight. It's backed by a sweet 90-46 ATS angle, so hop on board right now, and watch your $$$$ roll in tonight!!. Go get it! Get Big Al’s 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!

The Pacers are 17-29 on the season, but 22-22-2 ATS.  They have logged 22 Overs and 24 Unders.  They are 5-17 in road games.

The Suns are 35-9 on the season, but 25-19 ATS.  They have notched 19 Overs, 24 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 17-5 in home games.

The Indiana Pacers are 17th in scoring with 108.3 ppg, 17th in rebounds with 44.4 per game, and 16th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  They are shooting 15th in FG%, 26th in 3PT%, and 16th in FT%.  They are 17th on defense while allowing 109 ppg.

The Phoenix Suns are 3rd in scoring with 112.5 ppg, 8th in rebounds with 45.8 per game, 5th AST/TO ratio with 1.9.  The Suns absolutely shoot the lights out… They are 1st in FG%, 5th in 3PT%, and 7th in FT%.  They rank 5th in defense while allowing 104.5 ppg.

 

Our prediction for Saturday, January 22nd is….  Suns 118 - Pacers 92

The Suns will cover the spread easily.  The Pacers will be without PF Domantas Sabonis indefinitely because of an ankle injury and will sit PG/SG Malcolm Brogdon to rest his sore Achilles… with all the other injuries the Pacers simply will not have anything on the court that resembles and NBA franchise.

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Indiana is 2-0 ATS versus Phoenix at Phoenix over the last 3 seasons.

Indiana is 12-4 ATS in non-conference games this season.

Indiana is 3-0 ATS after playing 3 consecutive road games.

Pacers: SG Malcolm Brogdon (Achillies) Quest ** PF Domantas Sabonis (ankle) Out ** C Myles Turner (foot) Out ** SG Caris LaVert (foot) Quest… PG TJ MCConnell Out indefinitely ** SF T.J. Warren (foot) Out indefinitely

Suns: C Deandre Ayton (ankle) Out ** SF Abdel Nader (conditioning) Out… PF Frank Kaminsky (knee) Out ** SF Dario Saric (knee) Out

Pacers: SF Justin Holiday, PF Torrey Craig, C Goga Bitadze, SG Chris Duarte, PG Keifer Sykes

Suns: SF Mikal Bridges, PF Jae Crowder, C JaVale McGee, SG Devin Booker, PG Chris Paul

Pacers

Points Domantas Sabonis 19

Assists: Malcolm Brogdon 5.9

Rebounds: Domantas Sabonis 11.9

Steals: Chris Duarte 1.1

Blocks: Myles Turner 2.8

Suns

Points: Devin Booker 24.6

Assists: Chris Paul 10

Rebounds: Deandre Ayton 10.6
Steals: Chris Paul 1.9

Blocks: Bismack Biyombo 1.1

Pacers: Rick Carlisle

Suns: Monty Williams