NBA Betting Picks, Odds, And Preview: Boston Celtics vs Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers have turned themselves into a legitimate threat after a series of victories towed them to fifth place in the Eastern Conference. They will look to bank on the upward trend when they engage with a staggering Boston Celtics at home on Tuesday. The Celtics sit on the third spot in the conference but are just three and half games above the Pacers after losing back-to-back heading to the tilt and splitting their last 10 overall.

Boston Celtics

The Celtics absorbed a painful 105-104 defeat against the OKC Thunder on Saturday, marking their fourth loss in five games. Gordon Hayward's return from injury hardly mattered as the Celtics squandered a double-digit edge at halftime and stumbled at crunch time, much to the dismay of their home fans who are agonized for the fourth straight time inside the TD Garden. The current tally in the East reveals that Boston is more likely to plummet in the race than chase the top two places as they are just a game and half above the fourth-placed Miami Heat whilst they are 3 1/2 and 10 games behind the second-place Toronto Raptors and top-placed Milwaukee Bucks, respectively.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers delivered a strong push on Sunday as they slipped past the Mavs in Dallas, 112-109, for their eighth win in 10 games. The team is headed back to Indiana after a rigorous five-game road trip where they seized all but one of their assignments to bolster their road record to above .500 (18-15). All-Star forward Domantas Sabonis continues to set the bar for bigs as he recorded a team-record 50 double-doubles after his 20-point, 17-rebound performance against the Mavs. T.J. Warren, Myles Turner, and Victor Oladipo are also expected to do damage against the Celtics whom they already defeated in December despite a 44-point explosion from All-Star point guard Kemba Walker.

Odds and Trends

Despite the opposite drifts over their respective assignments, the visiting Celtics still got the approval of the sportsbooks to play as favorites on the road with a -2.5 handicap. The total line is projected to hit about 215 points combined.

The Celtics are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 road games and 4-1 in their last 5 games as a road favorite.

The Pacers are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game and 4-0 in their last 4 Tuesday games.

Over is 5-0 in Celtics' last 5 games as a road favorite and 4-0 in Pacers' last 4 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600.

Under is 5-2 in Celtics' last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600 and 4-0 in Pacers' last 4 Tuesday games.

Prediction

Pacers win, 113-110.