The Indiana Pacers will face off against the Portland Trail Blazers in an interconference matchup on Friday. Portland is 11-29 overall and 6-12 at home, while Indiana is 24-17 overall and 11-9 on the road. Pascal Siakam is expected to make his debut for the Pacers after being acquired from the Raptors earlier in the week.
Tip-off is set for 10 p.m. ET at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore. Indiana is a 5-point favorite in the latest Trail Blazers vs. Pacers odds, according to the SportsLine consensus, and the over/under is 238 points. Before entering any Pacers vs. Trail Blazers picks, you need to see the NBA predictions and betting advice from SportsLine’s advanced computer simulation model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past five-plus seasons. The model enters Week 13 of the 2023-24 NBA season on a sizzling 42-23 roll on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning nearly $2,000. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.
The model has set its sights on Indiana vs. Portland. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several NBA odds and betting lines for Pacers vs. Blazers:
Trail Blazers vs. Pacers spread: Pacers -5
Trail Blazers vs. Pacers over/under: 238 points
Trail Blazers vs. Pacers money line: Trail Blazers: +168, Pacers: -204
IND: The Pacers are 3-1 against the spread as a road favorite
POR: The Blazers are 5-2 ATS with no rest and are coming off playing last night
Trail Blazers vs. Pacers picks: See picks at SportsLine
What to know about the Pacers
The Pacers are expected to see their first returns on the trade that brought in Siakam from the Raptors. The Pacers traded Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks to the Raptors for the athletic 6-foot-8 forward. Siakam was averaging 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game for Toronto this season. The 29-year-old averaged 24.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game last season in making his second All-Star team over his eight-year NBA career.
Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton (hamstring) was listed as questionable before Portland’s contest with the Nets on Thursday but didn’t play, so if he can return less than two weeks after what looked to be a serious injury at the time, that would provide a huge lift for the Pacers. Indiana defeated the Kings, 126-121, on Thursday behind 25 points from Bennedict Mathurin. T.J. McConnell had 20 points and 10 assists, while Jalen Smith added 17 points and 13 rebounds. Be sure to keep an eye on the injury report heading into this matchup. See which team to pick here.
What to know about the Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers snapped their four-game losing streak with a 105-103 home victory over the Nets on Thursday. Anfernee Simons, who had 20 points, hit the winning basket on a floating jumper with 0.2 seconds left to break the tie at 103. Jerami Grant led Portland with 30 points and eight rebounds, while Duop Reath added 17 points and seven rebounds on 7 of 9 shooting.
Simons leads the Trail Blazers in scoring at 22.9 points per game with Grant adding 21.4 ppg. Portland plays at one of the slowest paces in the NBA (20th in the league), as opposed to the Pacers who like to run and play at the second-fastest pace. The Trail Blazers are 7-7 ATS as a home underdog this season, including 3-0 ATS over their last three home contests as the underdogs. Whichever team controls the pace will have a huge advantage in this matchup. Shaedon Sharpe (abdominal) is out for Friday. See which team to pick here.
How to make Trail Blazers vs. Pacers picks
The model has simulated Pacers vs. Blazers 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you that the model is leaning Over, and it also says one side of the spread hits almost 60% of the time. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.