1st Quarter Report
The Suns are on the road but looking no worse for wear. Sitting on a score of 40-31, they have looked like the better team, but there’s still three more quarters to play.
The Suns entered the contest having won seven straight and they’re just three quarters away from another. Will they make it eight, or will the Pacers step up and spoil it? We’ll know soon.
Who’s Playing
Phoenix Suns @ Indiana Pacers
Current Records: Phoenix 26-18, Indiana 25-20
How To Watch
- When: Friday, January 26, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET
- Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse — Indianapolis, Indiana
- TV: Arizona Family Sports Network
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $11.41
What to Know
The Pacers will be in front of their home fans on Friday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-court advantage. Having just played yesterday, they will get right back to it and host the Phoenix Suns at 7:00 p.m. ET on January 26th at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
The Pacers’ three-game losing streak finally came to an end on Thursday. They came out on top against Philadelphia by a score of 134-122. The Pacers pushed the score to 110-89 by the end of the third, a deficit the 76ers cut but never quite recovered from.
Pascal Siakam was the offensive standout of the match as he dropped a triple-double on 26 points, 13 rebounds, and ten assists. That’s the first time this season that he posted ten or more assists.
Meanwhile, the Suns had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9 points), and they went ahead and made it seven on Wednesday. They blew past Dallas 132-109. The oddsmakers were on the Suns’ side, but they didn’t give the squad enough credit as the margin was unexpectedly wide.
Devin Booker went supernova for the Suns, going 6 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 46 points and 3 assists.
Indiana’s victory bumped their record up to 25-20. As for Phoenix, they have been performing well recently as they’ve won 12 of their last 15 matches, which provided a massive bump to their 26-18 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. The Pacers haven’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 124.8 points per game (they’re ranked first in scoring overall). However, it’s not like the Suns struggle in that department as they’ve been averaging 116.5 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
The Pacers came up short against the Suns in their previous matchup on Sunday, falling 117-110. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Suns’ Kevin Durant, who scored 40 points along with nine rebounds and three blocks. Now that the Pacers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There’s only one way to find out.
Odds
Phoenix is a 4.5-point favorite against Indiana, according to the latest NBA odds.
Bettors have moved against the Suns slightly, as the game opened with the Suns as a 6-point favorite.
The oddsmakers are expecting fireworks from the offense and set the over/under at a high 243.5 points.
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Series History
Phoenix has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Indiana.
- Jan 21, 2024 – Phoenix 117 vs. Indiana 110
- Feb 10, 2023 – Phoenix 117 vs. Indiana 104
- Jan 21, 2023 – Phoenix 112 vs. Indiana 107
- Jan 22, 2022 – Phoenix 113 vs. Indiana 103
- Jan 14, 2022 – Phoenix 112 vs. Indiana 94
- Mar 13, 2021 – Indiana 122 vs. Phoenix 111
- Jan 09, 2021 – Phoenix 125 vs. Indiana 117
- Aug 06, 2020 – Phoenix 114 vs. Indiana 99
- Jan 22, 2020 – Indiana 112 vs. Phoenix 87
- Jan 15, 2019 – Indiana 131 vs. Phoenix 97
