Indiana Pacers vs Boston Celtics Prediction, 3/24/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Indiana Pacers vs Boston Celtics

Date: Friday, March 24, 2023

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NBC Sports Boston

Odds/Point Spread: Indiana (+12)

The Indiana Pacers are headed to TD Garden on Friday where they will take on the Boston Celtics. Indiana opens this matchup as 12-point underdogs. The over/under has been set at 232.

The Pacers took the court against the Raptors and walked away with a win by a score of 118-114 in their last contest. In the matter of fouls, the Pacers ended up with 29 while the Raptors finished the game with 22 fouls. They buried 7 out of their 34 shots from downtown. Toronto ended up going 74.4% from the free throw line by making 29 of 39 tries. Moreover, Toronto pulled down 40 rebounds (13 offensive, 27 defensive) and got 5 blocked shots. Toronto doled out 21 dimes and had 11 steals in the matchup. When talking about defense, Indiana allowed 43.8% from the field on 39 of 89 shooting. They also doled out 27 assists in this game while forcing 10 turnovers and having 4 steals. In terms of hauling in rebounds, they collected a total of 39 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. At the free throw line, the Pacers knocked down 21 of their 25 attempts for a percentage of 84.0%. Indiana finished with a 55.8% field goal percentage (43 of 77) and converted 11 of their 21 shots from downtown.

Andrew Nembhard is a guy who played a role in this game. Nembhard ended up shooting 64.7% from the field and also recorded 10 assists. He was on the hardwood for 35 minutes played and pulled down 2 rebounds. He had 25 points on 11 out of 17 shooting.

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Indiana will take the court with a record of 33-40 on the season. They are averaging 115.9 points per contest (12th in basketball) while shooting 46.7% from the field. The Pacers are connecting on 36.6% on shots from distance (1,006 of 2,749) and 79.3% from the charity stripe. As a team, Indiana is grabbing 41.6 boards per game and is sitting with 1,954 dimes this season, which is 5th in basketball in terms of passing the rock. They are giving up possession 14.9 times per game and as a group are committing 21.3 personal fouls per game.

Defensively, the Pacers are able to force 15.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 20.2 fouls. They are giving up 37.0% on three-point shots while they are 26th in the league in PPG from their opponents (118.2). The Pacers are giving up a FG percentage of 48.0% (3,113 of 6,482) and they concede 45.2 rebounds per contest as a basketball team. They are currently ranked 28th in the NBA in giving up assists to the opposition with 1,914 conceded so far this season.

In their last game, the Celtics took home the win by a final score of 132-109 against the Kings. In regard to how they attacked the glass, Boston allowed Sacramento to collect 42 overall (10 on the offensive glass). They shot 38.6% from beyond the arc by connecting on 17 out of 44 and finished the game at 14 out of 21 at the charity stripe (66.7%). The Celtics permitted the Kings to convert 39 out of their 81 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 48.1% for the contest. When the final whistle was blown, the Celtics shot 49 out of 92 from the field which gave them a percentage of 53.3%. Regarding shooting from 3-point land, Boston made 18 of their 44 attempts (40.9%). They were able to make 16 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 69.6%. The Kings committed 19 fouls in this game which took the Celtics to the free throw line for 23 attempts. They also coughed up the ball 5 times, while getting 9 steals in the game. The Celtics pulled down 32 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards totaling 43 in this contest.

Jayson Tatum was important for the Celtics in this game. He converted 14 out of 25 for this game giving him a rate of 56.0%, and accounted for 8 rebounds. Tatum accumulated 36 points in his 35 minutes on the court and totaled 4 assists for this contest.

Boston has a record of 50-23 for the campaign. The Celtics have committed 19.2 fouls per game and they connect on 81.7% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 26.4 times per game (7th in basketball) and they turn it over 13.3 times per contest. Boston has accumulated 8,602 points so far this year (117.8 per game) and they pull in 45.1 rebounds per contest. On the offensive side of the court, the Celtics are shooting 47.4% from the field, which ranks them 15th in the NBA.

The Celtics defensively are ranked 7th in the league in points given up per game with 112.2. They are forcing their opponents into 12.7 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 46.5% from the field (5th in the NBA). The Boston defense gives up 35.3% on 3-pointers (869 of 2,460) and opponents are knocking down 77.0% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 23.0 dimes and 44.0 boards on a nightly basis, which is 2nd and 18th in basketball.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Boston (-12)

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