2023-24 NBA In-Season Tournament Odds: Should You Pick the Pacers?
The NBA in-season tournament has provided a raucous addition to the early throes of the NBA season, injecting nationally televised games with colorful courts and enticing down to the wire play. A little over a month and a half into the tournament, just four teams remain undefeated in tourney games; the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, and the Indiana Pacers.
Tomorrow, Tuesday November, 28th, concludes the group play stage of the tournament. Each team has already, or will have played 4 games by the end of group play tomorrow, and the six top seeds along with two wild cards will go onto the knockout rounds. It will be single elimination from the quarterfinals through to the Championship game, culminating on Saturday December, 9th.
Despite their undefeated status in tourney play, and a current 9-6 record, the Pacers have +800 odds on as the in-season tournament winner, the fifth shortest odds.
Are they being underlooked?
NBA in-season tournament odds: Indiana Pacers Win +800 at Draftkings
Style of Play
Indiana is one of the premier watches of the current NBA season; they play at a remarkably high pace (1st in the league), they shoot from deep on high volume and accurately, they lead the league in assists due to their ball movement, and are on pace to have the most efficient offense in NBA history.
Every game is a track meet. Even when they get down due to a rough shooting stretch, they have the ability to score in obscene amounts over a small stretch of time.
Traditionally, these teams that are high pace that feed off of shooting are ones that we look at as highly volatile and likely to face problems in a playoff setting, which I don't think entirely applies to this group, but that's another story.
In a single elimination, highly variable, one of setting like the in-season tournament, this might actually prove the best team to believe in as a real odds on shot at winning.
While their defense is a mess (29th in the NBA), their offense is extremely difficult to prepare for and counter during the strain of an NBA regular season. It has a tendency to catch teams off guard, particularly on short notice.
They're one of the best teams on 1 day rest in the league, 6-2 in those games.
Tyrese Haliburton
Tyrese Haliburton has hit another plane of existence as a player in 2023, averaging 25 points and 12 assists (leading the NBA in dimes) with blistering efficiency, 50.8/45.4/91.9.
The comfortability he's gotten to with his off the dribble shooting and blinding transition playmaking is as wonderful to watch as it is difficult for a defense to defend.
The Pacers are 5-3 in clutch games, clutch defined by the NBA as games within 5 points with less than 5 minutes of play time remaining.
Haliburton averages 4.4 points per game in clutch minutes, shooting 73% from the field, and 83% from deep. Those numbers are beyond unsustainable, but it stands out that there is a sort of special mix to this team, spurred on by Haliburton's continued growth and excellence as a shotmaker. This is not a team you want dragging you out into deep waters.
Odds (Per DraftKings)
- Milwaukee Bucks +280
- Los Angeles Lakers +500
- Phoenix Suns +600
- Sacramento Kings +650
- Indiana Pacers +800
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