NBA Regular Season 2023/24, Saturday, March 23, 2024
On Saturday night, the NBA will see an inter-conference duel between two inconsistent playoff contenders with lousy defenses. Downtown San Francisco should therefore provide the best basketball entertainment!
My Warriors Pacers tip, for which the current Bet365 new customer offer applies, explains why I expect a narrow defeat for the visitors from the Midwest at best
The Golden State Warriors, with their current core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, four-time champions between 2015 and 2022, are currently relatively inconsistent.
After posting a strong 13-3 record between the end of January and the beginning of March, they have only won four of their last nine games.
Convincing performances against ambitious teams like the Bucks (+35) or Lakers (+7) alternate with sobering defeats against underdogs like the Bulls (-3) or Spurs (-13).
The team also lost out to other playoff contenders such as the Mavericks (-10) or the Knicks (-7), while they were downright humiliated 88:140 by East leaders Boston at the start of the month.
All in all, however, they have a much easier time against teams from the weaker Eastern Conference and have a strong 17-9 record against East teams.
At the moment, GSW’s aim is probably to avoid the last play-in spot and hand it to the Lakers (half a game behind LAL).
However, they will have to work on their defense, which is the eighth worst in the league since March (rating of 115.8), while the offense around superstar Curry is the twelfth best in the same period (116.1).
The visitors from Indianapolis are also anything but consistent at the moment, with an even 6-6 record in their last twelve games.
However, this also includes some notable successes such as their win over the Thunder (+10) in mid-March.
They are currently 39-31 (GSW 36-32) in the East and half a game ahead of sixth place, the first guaranteed playoff spot.
Indiana has the second-best offense in the league this season (119.8, GSW 8th), while the defense is only the sixth-worst (117.8, GSW 18th).
However, the Pacers have improved significantly on defense of late, not least thanks to the midseason trade of star forward Pascal Siakam.
Indy has the eighth-best defense in March with a rating of 111.7.
The Pacers’ offense, the second-fastest in the league according to the team name, is currently suffering from the shooting slump of floor general Tyrese Haliburton.
The normally accurate All-Star has only managed a miserable three-point percentage of 17.6% in March (on 6.8 attempts per game, career value 39.4%).
Accordingly, the Yellow & Navy’s offense is “only” the fourteenth-best in the league in March (114.6).
The aforementioned Siakam, meanwhile, has settled in well in the Midwest and in his 29 games for the Pacers so far has posted strong figures of 20.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 0.9 steals with a formidable 55% from the field and 38% from the three-point line.
The Pacers also have a whole cascade of offensively gifted role players, with five other players behind Siakam and Haliburton scoring more than ten points a night.
Another point in the Pacers’ favor is that they have won three of their last four duels against GSW and their last four games in San Francisco.
However, the Californian warriors won the last duel at the beginning of February this year 131-109.
The fact that the Pacers are stronger away from home (18-16) than the Warriors are at home (18-18) should also be relevant for you when betting
For this reason, I find the Warriors’ somewhat clear role as favorites in the sports betting apps surprising and not necessarily comprehensible.
Indiana is currently in much better shape defensively than GSW and, with Haliburton, Siakam and their talented supporting cast, has the potential to match the in-form offense of the home side.
In addition, Golden State has already lost its last two home games against East teams and Indiana knows how to win away at the Chase Center.
To mitigate the risk of failure of a classic three-way bet, I recommend a handicap bet at Bet365, which gives the Pacers a virtual lead of +4.5 points, which must be saved over the finish line (lucrative odds of 1.92).
My Warriors Pacers tip: Pacers with HC +4.5!
