The Desert Carnage: Suns Feast on a Haliburton-less Indy

The Indiana Pacers are heading to Phoenix for a disastrous-looking encounter with the white-hot Phoenix Suns, and to be blunt, this might quickly turn ugly, folks. "Disaster" is because this season for the Pacers has been a disaster from day one, as they’re off to an appalling 1-10 start, riding a five-game losing skid, and looking lost at sea. Why is this happening to them? Simply, it’s because they’re thoroughly doused, and this time, they’re doused because of injuries that have ravaged them to the core—that is, the entire lineup!

The big punch, the punch that derailed the season prior to Thanksgiving, is Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles tear.

That is it for them in terms of pace, in terms of creativity, and in terms of their game in general. Of course, they don’t end there; they have a young star in Bennedict Mathurin, who is also out because of a toe sprain, along with important forward Obi Toppin, who is dealing with a stress fracture, aside from a few more in the mix, because they’re a completely depleted squad, to say nothing of the fact that they’re having Pascal Siakam carry an impossible load in order for them to remain somewhat competitive, which they haven’t been doing, as they just lost to the Jazz by an obscene amount, surrendering a whopping 152 points in the process.

However, the Suns are flat out playing exceptionally well. They have won four games in a row, including an impressive 6-0 record against the spread at home. Yes, I said what I meant—6-0 against the spread in Phoenix. The team has been a different animal playing at home, owing to their defensive unit rating in the top five at home but at the bottom of the barrel away from home.

Devin Booker is, of course, doing Devin Booker things, scoring close to 30 per game, and they’re taking massive advantage of that home-court boost. This is a hungry team looking to climb up those Western Conference rankings, and this depleted Pacers team is just the sort of buffet they require to keep this roll going. 

Despite having played a game last night, they have enough personnel to create a real squash job, courtesy of those pathetic Pacers absences.

The Desert Forecast

The oddsmakers are respecting the Suns' recent run and home dominance, listing them as -4 1/2 favorites, a spread that honestly feels too small given Indiana’s injury catastrophe and 1-10 record. The total is hovering around 233 1/2. While the Pacers are 5-6 against the spread, that number is misleading, as it includes games played before the Haliburton injury wiped out their season.

Phoenix has been money at home, and Indiana has been horrendous on the road, with an average road scoring margin of negative 17.2 points. This line is low because of the Suns' back-to-back, but the Pacers are simply not equipped to take advantage. The Suns stomp the Pacers and cover the 4.5 points easily.