The first Play-In Tournament game of the NBA postseason is Tuesday night from Indianapolis as the ninth-seeded Indiana Pacers host and are favored against the No. 10 Charlotte Hornets on the NBA odds. The loser’s season is over.

How to Bet Hornets at Pacers NBA Odds & TV Info

• When: Tuesday, 6:30 PM ET
• Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse
• TV: TNT
• Stream: TNT app
• Radio:com

Season Series

Charlotte won two of three. The clubs last played April 2 in Indianapolis and the Hornets won 114-97. Miles Bridges had 23 points to lead seven double-digit scorers for Charlotte. That was the game the team lost star Gordon Hayward to a foot injury and he hasn’t played since. The Pacers, according to leading scorer Caris LeVert, played “uninspired.” He had 16 points. Indiana was missing a few key players and All-Star forward Domantas Sabonis missed the final quarter with a left ankle sprain.

In the regular-season series, only mustered 106 points per 100 possessions — its worst scoring output against any Eastern Conference opponent, sans the Brooklyn Nets (105.2), who also post a high switch rate on ball screens.

Why Bet on Charlotte? | NBA Betting Analysis

Charlotte (33-39) closed the regular season on a five-game skid after losing 115-110 at Washington on Sunday. Charlotte went 8-15 down the stretch without injured forward Gordon Hayward. Overall, the team finished 15-21 on the road this year.

Terry Rozier came up just shy of his second career triple-double in Sunday’s loss, finishing with 22 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and three steals in the loss. LaMelo Ball (15), Miles Bridges (17), Jalen McDaniels (13) and PJ Washington (11) then made it all five Hornets starters in double figures. Charlotte shot just 39% from the field as a team and 31% on threes (14-of-45), while also getting outrebounded by 11 total boards (53-42).

Rozier is averaging a team-high 20.4 points per game and is also the first Hornets player with 25 or more 20-point efforts in consecutive seasons since Walker who had 20 points 50 times during the 2017-18 season and 62 times during the 2018-19 season. Hayward is not expected back for this game but hasn’t 100 percent been ruled out as of this writing.

Twelve of the 17 Hornets players are playing in their first, second or third year in the NBA as the Hornets are also the 10th youngest team by average age in the NBA this season. This season, .589% of the Hornets minutes this season have been played by first, second or third-year players, which is the second highest percentage in the NBA, only behind the Oklahoma City Thunder as Charlotte is also second in total minutes played by that group of players.

Why Bet on Indiana? | NBA Betting Analysis

The Pacers closed the season with a 125-113 win over the Raptors in Florida on Sunday. Oshae Brissett finished the season on a career-high note with 31 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, making 10-of-16 field goals. Brissett’s previous high was 23 points. He’s likely cemented himself in the rotation for the playoffs, especially with Myles Turner (foot) still sidelined indefinitely.

Domantas Sabonis finished Sunday’s season finale with 25 points, 16 rebounds and five assists. He’s averaged a triple-double over the past month with 22.2 points, 13.7 rebounds and 10.0 assists. TJ McConnell had 12 points and a career-best 17 assists in the win. He’s averaging 12.9 points, 7.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 2.4 steals while shooting 58.6 percent from the field over his last nine games and averaged career highs in points (8.6), rebounds (3.7), assists (6.7) and steals (1.9) through 69 games in his sixth NBA season.

In addition to playing Sunday without Turner, the Pacers didn’t have Malcolm Brogdon, Aaron Holiday, Jeremy Lamb and Edmond Sumner. Some of those guys should be ready Tuesday, just probably not Turner.

Brogdon, out since April 29 with a hamstring injury, worked out prior to the game and ran timed sprints under the supervision of a trainer. Turner, who hasn’t played since April 18 because of a toe injury, ranks first in the NBA in blocked shots at 3.4 a game.

Indiana finished 13-23 at home this season, ending the regular season with a losing record at home for the first time since the 1989-90 season (20-21). Their 31-season streak with a winning record at home was tied for the third-longest in NBA history.  The Pacers are 19-5 this season when they score 120 or more points. The Pacers are 20-2 this season in games in which they shoot 50 percent or better from the field, and 29-3 when they shoot a higher percentage from the floor than their opponent.

Expert Prediction

• Pacers 116, Hornets 113

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