NBA: Golden State Warriors VS Indiana Pacers Pick and Predictions 12/14/2022

Game: 7:00 PM ET,  Wednesday, December 14th, 2022

Venue: Gainbridge Filedhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana

TV:  NBA League Pass

Warriors: 14-13, 9th place Western Conference

Pacers: 14-14, 8th place Eastern Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread: Warriors -1.5, O/U 238.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Warriors -1.5, O/U 238

Fanduel: Point Spread: Warriors -1, O/U 238.5

Warriors: SF Jordan Poole, PF Draymond Green, C Kevon Looney, SG Klay Thompson, PG Stephen Curry

Pacers: PF Aaron Nesmith, SF Buddy Hield, C Mytles Turner, SG Tyrese Haliburton, PG Andrew Nembhard

An NBA Western Conference VS Eastern Conference battle of teams with amazing guard play. Both teams are hovering around the 8th or 9th place in their conference… but both threaten to rise quickly given health.  For the Golden State Warriors the blueprint is solid… HOF’ers Stephen Curry at PG, Klay Thompson at SG, and Draymond Green at PF… surrounded by a deep cast of quality young players. The Warriors also have a former #1 pick and first time all-star last season (Andrew Wiggins) at small forward, but he is on the injury list for at least another two weeks. This top heavy talent plus lots of other quality players is the exact template for winning in the NBA… why are they in 9th place in the West?... Something is not always working.  The Indiana Pacers traded for PG/SG Tyrese Halliburton, Buddy Hield and some picks last season for their great PF/C Domantas Sabonis… The Pacers easily won the trade. Halliburton is a two-way monster and still very young… He will one day soon play in his first all-star game and is 2 seasons away from a big MAX contract extension.  Haliburton is helped on this journey to greatness when the Pacers hit on both first and second round draft picks this summer… SG Ben Mathurin (1st round) is a 6’5 guard that is pushing for rookie of the year AND 6th man of the year simultaneously… the reason he does not start is rookie PG/SG Andrew Nembhard (first pick 2nd round out of Gonzaga) is slightly more prepared defensively.  Andrew has been and is playing great.. He doesn’t have Mathurin’s offensive numbers… but he will show up on the same rookie of the year ballot having won the starting position alongside Halliburton. The Pacers guard rotation is set for the next DECADE, given health.  It’s all the other positions, specifically SF that needs an immediate upgrade.  They can win lots of games if they could just find a real small forward instead of sticking SG Buddy Hield in that spot. They may wait for the draft to address the small forward spot… but they shouldn’t.  They should trade Hield sooner than later for any bigger small forward on the market even if it costs them a future pick to make it happen.  Then they can look again in the draft later.

The Golden State Warriors are coming off of a big win over the Boston Celtics 123-107.  The Celtics are the best team in the league and the Warriors used that occasion to remind everyone that they are the defending Champs.  (plus Boston is missing key big men to the injury list). In the win, which was also an upset win ATS, the Warriors got 32 points from Stephen Curry and 34 points from Klay Thompson… Those guys were hitting shots and the team ultimately shot 51% from the field and 33% from 3… any combination like that will get the Warriors a win over everyone.  C Kevon Looney had 7 pts, 15 rbs, 3 asts… proving that everyone on the floor for the Warriors contributes wherever they can.

The Indiana Pacers are on a 2-game losing streak… They lost their last game to the Miami Heat 87-82… a drastically low scoring game as Tyrese Halliburton had the worst game of his 2 seasons in the NBA… he went 0-9 from the field with 6 of those shots being missed 3-pointers.  He ended with 1 pt, 3 rbs, and 6 asts.  SF Buddy Hield actually ended up leading the Pacers in scoring with 19 points in the game.  To make matters worse SG Aaron Nesmith who the Pacers often use as a forward… left the game with a high ankle sprain which will keep him out a few more games. Actual Power Forward Jalen Smith sat at the end of the bench for all but 13 minutes of playing time… he reportedly has been put there because of inconsistent play.  The Pacers stunk up the place.  The problem is of course a roster where their best 3 players are very young guards and the entire bench is almost completely made up of reserve shooting guards… The Pacers need more balance and they need it quick… unless of course management has run the numbers and is now trying to tank for the draft lottery (a HUGE possibility this season considering the top prize).

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GSW: 14-13, 13-14 ATS, 14-11-2 O/U, 2-11 in road games.

IND: 14-14, 15-13 ATS, 12-15-1 O/U, 8-6 in home games.

The Warriors are 4th in scoring with 117.6 points per game, 17th in rebounds with 43.1 per game, 8th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8, and 23rd in blocked shots with 4.3.

The Pacers are 12th in scoring with 114.6 points per game, 24th in rebounds with 42.5 per game, 17th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7, and 2nd in blocked shots with 6.2.

Our prediction for Wednesday, December 14th is…. Pacers 120 - Warriors 115

Bet on the Pacers.  The Warriors had the Celtics and then the Bucks and then must get up for the Pacers and their super young legs!  It will be an exhausting turn around for the Warriors who have to face the Bucks, get on a plane, then face the Pacers just 21 hours later.  Plus the Pacers will be throwing some of the best defensive guards at a team that almost entirely relies on older offensively oriented guards.

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Indiana is 4-1 ATS versus the Warriors the last 3 seasons.

Both games at Indiana in this series have gone UNDER the last 3 seasons.

Indiana is 33-18 ATS versus the Warriors since 1996.

Warriors: SF Jordan Poole.  Jordan is playing out of position at the SF… but against the Pacers that does not matter since they will also be playing SG Buddy Hield out of position at SF.  Jordan will have to excel for the Warriors to win since Curry and Thomspon will be blanketed by big talented guards themselves.

Pacers: SG/PG Andrew Nembhard.  If you haven’t watched him yet… take a look.  This early 2nd round pick should have been taken in the first round… AND possibly in the top-5 of his draft. If he keeps living up to his promise so far… The Pacers probably won the 2022 draft.  

Warriors: Steve “Lord of the rings” Kerr

Pacers: Rick “I got one too… don’t forget.. Member?” Carlisle