NBA Play of the Day for January 29th, 2020

by Raju Byfield |
Jan 29, 2020

The NBA world is still reeling from the loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, and teams continue to follow suit by running out the 24-second shot clock in memoriam. The Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers canceled their game, but the rest of the NBAâ€™s contests continue to go on. The Indiana Pacers are set to host the Chicago Bulls in the third matchup of their four-game season series. Indiana has won the first two games of this series by at least 11 points. Star player Victor Oladipo is set to make his long-awaited season debut tonight and should give the Pacers the spark needed to clear the current consensus point spread of -9.5 points. Letâ€™s dig in.

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Details

Opening Lines: The consensus point spread for this contest opened at -8 on the Indiana Pacers. The consensus over/under total opened at 214 points. The point spread climbed to -9.5, but now sits at -5.5. The over/under total has dropped to 213.5.
Current Line: Indiana -9.5
O/U: 213.5
Location: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Start Time: 7:00 PM EST, Wednesday, January 29th
Last Meeting: Indiana defeated Chicago 116-105 â€“ January 10th, 2020

Overview

The 30-17 Indiana Pacers currently sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. After a 47 game hiatus, Victor Oladipo is finally ready to make his return to the Pacers lineup. While someone who spent a portion of their recovery time competing on the Masked Singer cannot be expected to dominate in his season debut, he will undoubtedly provide a major boost to the Pacers on both sides of the ball. The Pacers will be hoping to have Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner back tonight, as both players missed Sundayâ€™s contest. Indiana has already beaten the Bulls twice this season by double digits and are expected to do so once again against their divisional foes. The Pacers are 17-5 at home, and could move into a tie for fifth place with a win tonight.

The 19-30 Chicago Bulls currently sit in ninth place in the Eastern Conference but are a full two games behind the Brooklyn Nets. They could surprise their way into the playoffs if Kyrie continues to sit out, and the Bulls can get red hot, but the likelihood is that the Bulls spend at least one more season as postseason spectators. The Bulls have a talented core of young players, but with Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr., and Lauri Markannen set to miss tonightâ€™s contest, the Bulls are going to have a tough time fending off a team they have already lost to by double digits twice this season. Zach LaVine could very well make his first all-star team next Thursday, but he is hardly what one would call a true difference-maker. Chicago has won two games in a row but may need both Brogdon and Turner to miss tonightâ€™s contest to make it three.

Trends

Chicago is 23-25-1 ATS on the season.
Chicago is 12-10-1 ATS on the road this season.
Indiana is 26-20-1 ATS on the season.
Indiana is 12-9-1 ATS at home this season.
Chicago is 5-5 ATS in their last 10 contests.
Chicago is 9-4-1 ATS in their last 14 road contests.
Chicago is 1-6-1 ATS in their last eight contests against teams with winning records.
Chicago is 10-4-1 ATS in their last 15 contests as a road underdog.
Chicago is 3-9-1 ATS in their last 13 contests played on one day of rest.
Indiana is 6-4 ATS in their last 10 contests.
Indiana is 5-1 ATS in their last six contests as a favorite.
Indiana is 5-2 ATS in their last seven contests against teams with losing records.
Indiana is 4-1 ATS in their last five home contests against teams with losing road records.
Indiana is 7-1 ATS in their last eight Wednesday contests.
Under is 4-1 in Chicagoâ€™s last five road contests.
Under is 20-8 in Chicagoâ€™s last 28 contests against teams with winning records.
Under is 5-2 in Chicagoâ€™s last seven contests played on one day of rest.
Under is 4-1 in Chicagoâ€™s last five contests as a road underdog.
Over is 5-2 in Indianaâ€™s last seven home contests.
Over is 12-5 in Indianaâ€™s last 17 contests.
Under is 5-2 in Indianaâ€™s last seven contests against teams with losing records.
Under is 5-2 in Indianaâ€™s last seven home contests against teams with losing road records.

Prop Bets

Victor Oladipo over 9.5 points (-128)
Victor Oladipo is set to make his season debut tonight, so we cannot expect too much from him in the production department. With that being said, this line was set just where the sharps hoped at -9.5. The juice on this prop is going to continue to rise as it will be targeted throughout the day by player prop bettors. Oladipo should see enough playing time and shot attempts to crack the 10-point barrier, something he has failed to do just seven times in the last two seasons combined. Punch this is as a multi-unit play at FanDuel as soon as possible.

Bottom Line

The consensus point spread for this contest has already shot up 1.5 points from -8 on Indiana to -9.5. This suggests that both Myles Turner and Malcolm Brogdon are set to return to action tonight alongside their Pacers top star Victor Oladipo. The Pacers have beaten the Bulls by at least 11 points in both of their head to head contests this season, and there is absolutely no reason to think they will not be able to do so again with the Bulls missing multiple key pieces on offense. Indiana is 5-2 against the spread in their last seven contests against teams with losing records and appear set to make it 6-2 against a Bulls team that is 1-6-1 against the spread in their last eight contests against teams with winning records. This should be an easy win for the Pacers, the only true debate is by how much. If Brogdon and Turner are both officially cleared for tonight, punch this in as a multi-unit play at FanDuel. If they miss the contest leave it as a one-unit dalliance.

Pick: Indiana Pacers -8.5 (-110)