1st Quarter Report

The Pacers and the Thunder have shown up to the game, but their offenses sure haven’t. Sitting on a score of 38-29, the Pacers have looked like the better team, but there’s still three more quarters to play.

If the Pacers keep playing like this, they’ll bump their record up to 37-29 in no time. On the other hand, the Thunder will have to make due with a 45-20 record unless they turn things around.

Who’s Playing

Indiana Pacers @ Oklahoma City Thunder

Current Records: Indiana 36-29, Oklahoma City 45-19

How To Watch

• When: Tuesday, March 12, 2024 at 8 p.m. ET
• Where: Paycom Center — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• TV: Bally Sports Midwest – Indiana
• Follow: CBS Sports App
• Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
• Ticket Cost: $5.15

What to Know

The Indiana Pacers will head out on the road to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder at 8:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday at Paycom Center. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

The Magic typically have all the answers at home, but on Sunday the Pacers proved too difficult a challenge. They strolled past the Magic with points to spare, taking the game 111-97. The victory came about thanks to a strong surge starting at the 9:23 mark of the second quarter, when the Pacers were facing a 35-20 deficit.

Meanwhile, the Thunder had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Sunday. They put the hurt on Memphis with a sharp 124-93 victory. With the Thunder ahead 64-43 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.

Indiana’s victory bumped their record up to 36-29. As for Oklahoma City, their victory was their ninth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 45-19.

While fans of both teams were happy after their last outing, their bettors probably weren’t as neither team covered. Looking forward, the Thunder are the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by seven points. This contest will be their 23rd straight as the favorites (so far over this stretch they are 11-11 against the spread).

Tuesday’s match is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: The Pacers just can’t miss this season, having made 50.7% of their shots per game (they’re ranked first in field goal percentage overall). However, it’s not like the Thunder (currently ranked second in field goal percentage) struggle in that department as they’ve made 50.2% of their shots this season. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.

Odds

Oklahoma City is a solid 7-point favorite against Indiana, according to the latest NBA odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Thunder as a 6-point favorite.

The over/under is 240.5 points.

See NBA picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.

Series History

Indiana has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Oklahoma City.

• Mar 31, 2023 – Indiana 121 vs. Oklahoma City 117
• Jan 18, 2023 – Oklahoma City 126 vs. Indiana 106
• Feb 25, 2022 – Oklahoma City 129 vs. Indiana 125
• Jan 28, 2022 – Indiana 113 vs. Oklahoma City 110
• May 01, 2021 – Indiana 152 vs. Oklahoma City 95
• Apr 21, 2021 – Indiana 122 vs. Oklahoma City 116
• Dec 04, 2019 – Indiana 107 vs. Oklahoma City 100
• Nov 12, 2019 – Indiana 111 vs. Oklahoma City 85
• Mar 27, 2019 – Oklahoma City 107 vs. Indiana 99
• Mar 14, 2019 – Indiana 108 vs. Oklahoma City 106