Indiana Pacers vs Houston Rockets Prediction, 12/26/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Indiana Pacers vs Houston Rockets

Date: Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Location: Toyota Center in Houston, TX

TV: Space City Home Network

Odds/Point Spread: Indiana (+3)

Toyota Center is where the Houston Rockets (15-12) will meet the Indiana Pacers (14-14) on Tuesday. Indiana opens this matchup as 3-point dogs. The betting total is set at 237.5.

The Pacers stepped onto the hardwood against the Magic and took a loss by a final of 117-110 in their last game. Regarding personal fouls, the Pacers ended up with 30 and the Magic finished the game with 18 personal fouls. They converted 6 of 18 tries from downtown. Orlando finished 80.5% at the charity stripe by making 33 of 41 shots. Additionally, Orlando totaled 39 rebounds (10 offensive, 29 defensive) and added 6 blocks. Orlando recorded 22 dimes and had 9 steals in this contest. In terms of defense, Indiana let their opponent shoot 53.4% from the field on 39 of 73 shooting. They also distributed 27 dimes in this matchup while forcing the opposition into 13 turnovers and getting 7 steals. Regarding rebounding, they earned 33 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Pacers buried 9 of their 13 shots for a percentage of 69.2%. Indiana finished the game with a 52.4% FG percentage (43 out of 82) and buried 15 out of their 34 three-point attempts.

Tyrese Haliburton is a player who was a contributor in the matchup. Haliburton finished the game shooting 54.5% from the field and also earned 15 assists. He played for 40 mins and snagged 2 boards. He walked away with 29 points on 12 of 22 shooting.

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Indiana heads into this contest with a win-loss record of 14-14 on the year. They currently have an average of 126.5 pts per game (1st in the league) while shooting 50.6% from the floor. The Pacers are hitting 38.0% on shots beyond the perimeter (404 of 1,063) and 79.5% from the free throw line. As a unit, Indiana is pulling down 39.8 rebounds per game and has earned 857 dimes so far this year, which has them ranked 2nd in the NBA in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 13.3 times per contest and as a unit they commit 22.5 fouls per contest.

On the defensive end, the Pacers are forcing 14.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 18.8 fouls. They are conceding 39.7% from beyond the arc and they rank 29th in the league in PPG allowed (125.8). The Pacers defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 51.0% (1,291 of 2,530) and they surrender 42.6 boards per contest as a unit. They are ranked 5th in the NBA in giving up assists with 713 surrendered for the year.

The last time they took the court, the Rockets went home victorious with a score of 106-104 when they faced the Pelicans. Concerning rebounding, Houston allowed New Orleans to collect 46 in all (13 offensive). They finished 25.8% from 3-point land by shooting 8 of 31 and finished the contest at 20 of 29 at the free throw line (69.0%). The Rockets permitted the Pelicans to bury 38 of 82 attempts from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 46.3% for the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Rockets walked away from this one shooting 35 out of 82 from the field which gave them a rate of 42.7%. With respect to three-point attempts, Houston knocked down 9 out of their 29 attempts (31.0%). They were able to make 27 of those for a clip of 77.1%. The Pelicans were called for 22 personal fouls in this matchup which got the Rockets to the charity stripe for 35 tries. They coughed up the ball 11 times, while recording 9 steals for the contest. The Rockets earned 31 defensive boards and 13 offensive rebounds for a total of 44 in the game.

Alperen Sengün was important for the Rockets in this game. Sengun tallied 37 points in his 38 minutes on the hardwood and totaled 6 assists in this matchup. He buried 11 out of 21 in this contest giving him a field goal percentage of 52.4%, and accounted for 11 rebounds.

Houston has a win-loss record of 15-12 on the year. As an offense, the Rockets are hitting on 46.1% from the field, which has them ranked 24th in basketball. Houston has totaled 3,012 pts this season (111.6 per game) and they average 45.8 rebounds per game. They are earning an assist 25.3 times per contest (23rd in the league) and they are giving up possession 13.1 times per game. The Rockets commit 22.2 personal fouls every game and they go 78.4% from the free throw line.

The Houston defense surrenders 31.6% on shots from behind the 3-point line (301 of 954) and their opponents are connecting on 74.5% of their foul shots. They have allowed 23.1 dimes and 44.0 boards every game, which has them ranked 1st and 19th in the league. The Rockets on defense are ranked 2nd in the league in points given up per game with 107.7. They are forcing their opponents into 12.9 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 44.0% from the floor (1st in basketball).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Houston (-3)

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