NBA Betting: Nets vs. Pacers odds, pick, prediction for Monday 4/1

Nets vs. Pacers Odds

Monday, April 1, 7 p.m. ET, BSIN

Odds via FanDuel. Get up-to-the-minute NBA odds here.

Brooklyn Nets

This an awful spot for the Nets considering they have to fly straight from Brooklyn to Indianapolis after an embarrassing blowout loss to the Lakers. They will also be facing a Pacers squad that has had two days of rest and has not had to travel in five days.

Brooklyn had actually been on a three-game winning streak prior to the loss to the Lakers.

The matchup on paper isn’t awful, as the Nets have a number of wings capable of guarding Pascal Siakam; they also have Nic Claxton, who is capable of switching all the ball-screen actions the Pacers run for Tyrese Haliburton. Where I am concerned for the Nets is their rim defense. They rank 17th in defensive rim rate allowed while the Pacers are third in offensive rim rate.

The Nets will need to prioritize taking away easy shots at the rim for Myles Turner and Siakam. This is an area the Nets defense struggled in against the Lakers on Sunday, as they allowed both a ton of shots at the rim and high efficiency on those looks.

When these teams matched up two weeks ago, the Nets allowed the Pacers to attempt a massive 47% of their shots at the rim (96th percentile) and convert on 75% of these looks. That is a completely untenable number and the Nets will have no chance here if they can’t take away the rim. Brooklyn also allowed Indiana to rebound 40% of its misses on the offensive glass in that game. The Nets will need to be tougher in the paint if they want to pull off an upset here.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers have been similarly inconsistent to the Nets post All-Star break, but they are coming off a solid win over the same Lakers squad that blew the Nets out Sunday night. That game was predicated on their defense, as they held the Lakers to an offensive rating of just 91.7.

For the most part, the Pacers have won with offense since the All-Star break. They rank fourth in offensive rating (119.4) and 19th in defensive rating (115.1) over that span.

Indiana's defense will not be challenged here, however. Brooklyn's offense has consistently proven to be bad, ranking 23rd in offensive rating since the All-Star break. The Nets lack on-ball creators that can exploit the weak defensive point of attack of the Pacers. Indiana forced a turnover on an amazing 21.7% of Brooklyn's possessions last time these two matched up, and the Pacers should be able to have another solid defensive performance as the Nets will likely be rolling out the exact same lineup from that game.

Nets vs. Pacers

Betting Pick & Prediction

This is a great situational spot for the Pacers and we’ve already seen them blow out this Nets team this season, so I think backing the Pacers at -9.5 makes some sense here.

This Brooklyn team is no longer playing for anything as it has been virtually eliminated from playoff contention, and Indiana is still battling to avoid the play-in tournament and secure the 6-seed.

I’ll take the Pacers at single digits with a two-day rest edge facing a team they match up well against.

Pick: Pacers -9.5