The Indiana Pacers will begin their season on Thursday night at home in a rematch of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder played a wild opener of their own on Tuesday night after receiving their rings, defeating the Rockets in double overtime. While the Pacers are down some key players from last year’s team that won the Eastern Conference, they should remain a scrappy team looking to prove themselves.
This feels like a great spot to fade OKC off a dramatic victory on ring night, going on the road to face the team it just beat in the championship. I’d lean to taking the points with the home underdog, but feel stronger about going to a player prop SGP that capitalizes on some of Indy’s injuries.
Bennedict Mathurin 15+ Points/Andrew Nembhard 6+ Assists (-130)
Part of the reason that I’m not taking the points with the Pacers in such a terrific spot for them is simply because they may be too thin. Myles Turner departed for Milwaukee, while both Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell are sidelined with injuries. That creates a lot of extra opportunities, particularly in the backcourt.
Nembhard will step in as the starting point guard, and likely see significant minutes. He averaged just 3.7 assists in the NBA Finals, but did reach six dimes in two of the games. But that was playing off the ball, which will change this season. In eight games without Haliburton last season, Nembhard averaged 6.6 assists, but in just 26.6 minutes per game. Not to mention, McConnell was also on the floor running point in those games, averaging 4.6 assists of his own. This should be a massive increase in role for Nembard early in the season.
Another wing that’s in line to see a significant bump will be Mathurin. His minutes and shooting were both very inconsistent in the NBA Finals, but the Pacers will now be relying on him to play big minutes and help carry the scoring load. Mathurin has proved he’s capable, going for 27 and 24 points in a pair of those Finals games. He’s never been shy to get up shots, so we can feel pretty confident the volume will be there with so much scoring from last season’s team off the floor.
To see what the most-bet NBA player props on DraftKings Sportsbook are for tonight’s slate, check out the player props page on DraftKings Network! This page is constantly updated leading up to game time, and you can use it as a free resource all season!
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