DraftKings Sportsbook has released win O/Us for every NBA team and below, I break down the Indiana Pacers’ upcoming season and whether to bet over or under the club’s win total. If you’re interested in seeing any of the other NBA teams’ projected win totals, be sure to check out DraftKings Network‘s master list of the full 2025-2026 NBA projected win totals.
Indiana Pacers 2025-2026 projected win total
Analysis
The Pacers made a storybook run to Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but everything changed in the blink of an eye just a few moments into that do-or-die contest for the NBA Championship. After getting off to a hot start with nine points in the first seven minutes, star point guard Tyrese Haliburton devastatingly went down with a torn Achilles, which not only cost Indiana the NBA title, but also made the club’s chances of contending again this coming season slim-to-none.
Given Haliburton suffered this major injury in the latest possible game of the season, the guard is expected to miss the entire 2025-26 season, which is catastrophic news for the Pacers. Haliburton was incredible during Indiana’s run to the NBA Finals, leading the team in plus/minus and with the guard inactive the last two seasons, the Pacers have been a mediocre 11-13. Indiana has a solid group of guards in Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell to fill in for Haliburton, but expecting these players to fill the void left behind by Haliburton is unrealistic and the team will likely suffer dramatically.
On top of Haliburton getting hurt, the Pacers lost starting center Myles Turner to the Bucks in free agency. While not as important as Haliburton, Turner is a great two-way center who will be greatly missed. The 29-year-old is one of the best three-point shooting big men in the NBA and no longer having Turner to stretch the floor is a massive blow to the Pacers’ offense.
Indiana went out and traded for Jay Huff from the Grizzlies to help replace Turner, and while Huff is a solid player, he is a huge downgrade from Turner on both ends of the floor who has never been a full-time starter in his NBA career. The Pacers still have Tony Bradley and Isaiah Jackson will be back after tearing his Achilles last season, but neither of these centers are capable of being a starting center on a winning NBA team. Pascal Siakam is healthy and will likely put up great numbers with Haliburton and Turner missing, but expecting him to carry the load every night and making this Pacers team successful is just unreasonable.
Indiana Pacers projected win total: Best bets, predictions
Indiana Pacers U 38.5 Wins (-110)
The Pacers have major issues in both the back and frontcourt and the team’s lack of urgency to address these problems this offseason certainly suggests the organization believes next season will be a down year for the club.
With Haliburton out of the picture, losing and being a lottery team is the right move for the Pacers next season while they wait to retool the team and attempt to contend again in 2026-27 when Haliburton returns. The 38.5-win mark is just too high of a number for this lottery-bound Indiana team and backing the under here is a smart investment.
