Hey everyone, welcome the NBA sports betting breakdown where we are giving you all the information needed to make an educated bet in some of the most interesting matchups of the night. If you haven’t read this article before, we aren’t giving you the “picks” for these games, but rather giving you all the information you need to make an intelligent bet.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get down to the breakdown for January 11, 2019: the Indiana Pacers at New York Knicks game.

Historical Numbers Against the Spread

Tonight’s game features one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference vs. one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Currently, the Pacers sit at 3rd in the Eastern Conference with a record of 27-14, going 7-3 in their last 10, while the Knicks sit at 14th with a record of 10-31 and are 1-9 in their last 10. While I normally pick more interesting games for this article, the spread for this game is actually the 4th lowest on the slate and at first glance looks way too low. We’ll dig into the numbers and see if there’s a reason for that.

Knicks Historical Numbers Against the Spread

The Knicks have been a below average team to bet on this year so far going 18-21-1 against the spread. The Knicks come into this game with 2 full days rest and are a full 8 point underdog at home against this Pacers team. As I pointed out earlier, this line seems a little low, and looking into the Knicks side of the ball, it doesn’t get explained anymore. The Knicks have been horrible at home this year ATS going 6-9-1 and 4-5 as a home dog. Additionally, the Knicks aren’t great with 2 days rest this year going 5-5 ATS. Looking back to last year, the trend only looks slightly better as the Knicks were 7-10 on 2 days rest, 21-20 at home, and 12-14 as a home dog. Overall, this isn’t a great spot for the Knicks to cover looking a recent performance.

Pacers Historical Numbers Against the Spread

Looking at the Pacers numbers this year, we can see that they have been entirely average this year to bet on going 20-20-1 ATS. Looking into Indy’s numbers in this situation, we start to see the reason for the low line. On the year, the Pacers have been an average team on the road going 10-11-1 ATS and 7-9 as a road favorite. Additionally, the Pacers have not been good playing on a full days rest going 9-15-1 in that scenario. It should be noted, that all these trends seem like an aberration as the Pacers were 27-18 ATS last year on the road, 7-5 ATS as a road favorite, and 30-23 on one days rest.

Historical Numbers on the Total

The Knicks this year have been one of the worst teams in the league on the defensive side of the ball this year, ranking 29th in defensive efficiency and have played at a moderate pace ranking 14th in the league. The Pacers have been on the far other end this year ranking 2nd in defensive efficiency and 25th in pace.

Knicks Historical Numbers on the Over

Likely due to their horrible defense, the Knicks have been one of the best teams to bet the over on this year going 23-18. At home has not been an advantageous spot for the over this year for the Knicks as they have gone 8-8 on the over and looking at last year, this trend continues as they were 21-20 on the over last season. This year, the most advenatagious spot to bet the over for Knicks has been when they are on 2+ days rest (like today) where they have hit the over in 7 of 10 games.

Pacers Historical Numbers on the Over

With the Pacers being one of the slowest paced teams this year and with them having a stout defense, they have been a below average team to bet the over on going 19-22 this year. However, one of the spots which have been very profitable to bet the over on the Pacers has been on the road. This year they are 14-8 on the over on the road and 7-3 as a road favorite.