Hawks vs. Pacers Prediction and Odds (Recent Trends Point to Over)

The 37-37 Atlanta Hawks are fighting for their playoff lives as they travel to Indiana to take on the 25-50 Pacers tonight at 7:00 PM EST.

Atlanta has won two of three and hold a 4.5-game lead over the Knicks for the 10th seed (and final spot in the Play-In Tournament) in the Eastern Conference. They're just 1.5 games behind the Nets and Hornets for the 8th seed though, and could improve their playoff hopes with a strong close to the season.

Indiana is solely jockeying for draft position at this point. The Pacers have lost three straight and are coming off a 40-point drubbing by the Raptors. Can they play spoiler and hang tough at home or will Atlanta dominate en route to a road win?

Here are the odds via WynnBET as we search for value in this Hawks vs Pacers matchup:

Hawks vs Pacers Odds, Spread and Total

Spread

• Hawks -8 (-110)
• Pacers +8 (-110)

Moneyline:

• Hawks -350
• Pacers +275

Total:

• 234.5 (Over -110/Under -110)

Hawks vs Pacers Prediction and Pick

It's difficult to overstate how bad the Pacers look right now. They've failed to cover the spread in three straight by an average of just under 18 points per game. Yikes.

They've got the third-worst defensive rating in the league in March while the Hawks have maintained a top-10 offense. But Atlanta has been comically bad on the road. They've covered the spread just once in their last nine road games and are 11-25 ATS away from home on the season.

As a road favorite, the Hawks are just 3-5 outright in their last eight. They've lost to good teams like Dallas but also to bad ones like the Pistons twice and the Trail Blazers. So that's not ideal.

But I can't bring myself to trust a Pacers team that is just 1-5 ATS in their last six as a home underdog. It seems we could be stuck - neither team can be trusted. But never fear! Because that's exactly what totals are for and we've got some value on the over tonight.

Both teams play at a fast pace with good offenses and bad defenses. That's a lovely recipe for an over. It's hit in eight straight Pacers' games as a home underdog and is 11-4 in the Hawks' last 15 as a favorite. The over is 3-0 in all three matchups between these two teams so far, covering by an average of 15.5 points per game. I expect these trends to continue and am all...*ahem*...over the over tonight.

Pick: Over 234.5 (-110)

Follow all of Joe Summers' betting picks here.