Sacramento Kings vs. Indiana Pacers Player Prop Pick: Can Aaron Nesmith Stay Hot Tonight?
The Sacramento Kings travel to Indiana tonight to take on the Indiana Pacers. Can Aaron Neismith stay hot tonight? Ben Rajavuori answers.
Ben Rajavuori - February 2, 2024, 3:56 PM EST
7 minSacramento Kings vs. Indiana Pacers Player Prop Pick: Can Aaron Nesmith Stay Hot Tonight?
The Pacers are coming into this game off two back-to-back losses on the road against the Celtics and Knicks. They lost both games by five points, which were two tough games against the best teams in the Eastern Conference, and now have a chance to bounce back against the Kings at home. The Kings enter this game after seeing their win streak snapped against Miami in their last game. The Kings are 27–19 on the season and are sitting in fifth place in the Western Conference. What should we expect in tonight‘s game?
KINGS VS. PACERS DATE, TIME, AND WHERE TO WATCH
- Date: February 2, 2024
- Game Time: 7:30 pm ET
- Where to Watch: NBA League Pass
SACRAMENTO KINGS VS. INDIANA PACERS PREDICTION
The Pacers are still dealing with injuries to big pieces of their roster, including Tyrese Haliburton, who is still dealing with his hamstring injury that kept him out of recent games and now has him on a minutes restriction. He only played 22 minutes last game in that very close game against the Knicks and had to sit out in the fourth quarter due to injury management. He had a similar situation against the Celtics on Tuesday. Along with Halliburton, Myles Turner is also dealing with a left ankle sprain and is questionable for tonight‘s game. Bennedict Mathurin is also questionable for tonight‘s game after missing the last few games with a toe injury. With Mathurin out, the player I’m looking to target in this game is Aaron Nesmith. Aaron Nesmith is a fourth-year player who joined the league with the Celtics but was traded to the Pacers last season. Nesmith is fifth on the team with 12.5 points per game and just 3.9 rebounds per game, but his line tonight is 20.5 points+rebounds due to the injury situation. Nesmith has moved to the starting role for the Pacers and Bennedict Mathurin has been backing him up off the bench, but with Mathurin injured, Aaron Nesmith has been playing heavy minutes. Mathurin has only missed two games this season, the last two games that the Pacers have played, and Nesmith played 41 and 37 minutes in those games. Nesmith also has passed this points+rebounds line in both games without Mathurin, soaring past it against the Celtics with 38 points+rebounds and hitting it last night as well with 23 points+rebounds. His line last night was 19.5 and it has only moved up one point, which I do not think is enough.
Nesmith has been more playing minutes as the season goes along and was up to a season-high 28 minutes per game in January, which was with Mathurin still healthy. With the Pacers already a little shorthanded, and now without Mathurin as well, Nesmith will likely be in the high 30s in minutes again and get many field goal attempts. Nemith is also shooting much much better at home, as he has a 53.7% field goal percentage at home compared to 50.3% on the road, and he’s also shooting 48.4% from three at home, compared to 44.6% on the road. With Myles Turner questionable for this game, Nesmith should also grab more rebounds than the usual 3.9 that he has averaged this season. Nesmith has eclipsed his points+rebounds line the last few games and I expect him to do so again with Mathurin expected to miss another game tonight.
SACRAMENTO KINGS VS. INDIANA PACERS Player Prop PICK
3 Unit Pick: Aaron Nesmith Over 20.5 Points + Rebounds -120 CLICK HERE TO SEE WHICH SPORTSBOOK HAS THE BEST ODDS
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