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After much trade speculation, the Indiana Pacers did not end up dealing star forward Paul George at the trading deadline. While it remains to be seen if that helps or hurts them in the long run, there is no question the team is better right now than if George was traded for draft picks.
Indiana is the No. 6 seed currently in the Eastern Conference and can now turn its attention toward making a playoff run. That begins with a tough matchup against the Houston Rockets.
Houston is the better team and plays at home in this showdown, so it will definitely be a comfortable favorite. George hopes to put all the trade talk behind him and play well to give the Pacers a chance at the upset.
At 9:30 p.m. ET, tune into TNT for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Monday, February 27, 2017, at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Monday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Pacers are 29-28 straight up and 25-32 against the spread. Indiana has struggled on the road this season, covering in only 10 of 27 attempts. The Pacers are 12-16 against the spread as the underdog on the year.
The Rockets are 40-18 straight up and 33-25 against the spread. They have had a surprisingly successful season after falling down in the standings the past couple of years. Houston has played in 28 home games and covered in half of them. The Rockets are 25-22 against the spread as the favorite on the year.
Revenge Angle
The first time these two teams met back on January 29th, George and the Pacers had their way with the Rockets. Behind George’s 33 points and nine rebounds, Indiana defeated Houston 120-101 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The biggest factor was that James Harden just wasn’t his usual superstar self and George was.
This time in Houston, there’s little double Harden and the rest of the Rockets will be looking for revenge.
Ryan Anderson finished as the Rockets leading scorer in the last matchup, putting up 27 points in the loss. Indiana shot 54 percent from the field in the win, with Myles Turner, Jeff Teague and Glenn Robinson III combining for another 49 points for the Pacers.
Player to Watch
Harden -- The Rockets shooting guard is on the short list for this year’s MVP race and for good reason. He is averaging a double-double this season and leading the team in three categories with 29.2 points per game, 11.2 assists per game and 8.3 rebounds per game.
Harden has three games where he put up 40 or more points in the month of February alone. He had triple-double against Miami on February 15th, finishing with 38 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.
The five-time NBA All-Star scored a season-high 53 points against the Knicks on December 31st and finished with 52 points against Philadelphia on January 27th. He had 15 points in the loss to the Pacers last month.
Free NBA ATS Picks
Even though Indiana dominated the first matchup, Houston has been really good this season and Harden will be the best player on the court. Even though this isn’t the best matchup for the Rockets, they still have enough talent to come away with the win.
The over-under could be high as the Rockets are one of the most explosive offensive teams in the NBA. They like to push the pace and oftentimes the opponent gets sucked in to the fastbreak pace.
While Indiana is a decent team, this will be too tall of a task on the road. Choose the Rockets to take care of business against the Pacers to strengthen their record.
NBA Odds: Rockets 113, Pacers 103
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