Bill Yin breaks down his analysis, prediction, and pick for Nets vs. Pacers on Wednesday.

The 15-37 Nets will host the 14-40 Pacers tonight.

The Nets are currently –230 favorites on the Moneyline at DraftKings Sportsbook, with the point total set to 215.5. Below, I’ll break down tonight’s matchup and offer my prediction.

Brooklyn Nets vs. Indiana Pacers preview, prediction

The Nets surprisingly did not trade Michael Porter Jr. by the trade deadline as many assumed. Perhaps they figure to keep him as part of their long term plans, or else it wouldn’t make much sense to flash Porter Jr.’s skill set to this degree to then not be sellers. Porter Jr. is enjoying a career-high 25 PPG while shooting 47.4% from the field and 38.5% from three. He’s carried over most of his efficiency from his Nuggets tenure while increasing his scoring output. Most of this is due to a higher volume of shots, but it’s impressive to see him hunt for his shots with this much efficiency. The Nets, otherwise, are mostly a dumpster fire. They waived Cam Thomas, who’s since re-signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. There’s not much hope for the rest of their roster, save for a few bright spots in Egor Demin, Nic Claxton and Noah Clowney. The Nets hold a 117.8 DEFRTG and a 110.6 OFFRTG, both being bottom-25 marks in the league.

The Pacers without Tyrese Haliburton don’t fare much better. In fact, they actually have a worse record than the Nets, and are resting multiple starters tonight since it’s the second half of a back to back. The Pacers have gotten some nice production out of Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard, but that extra production has come out of necessity, and not towards the goal of winning basketball games. The Pacers will retool for next season as they wait for Haliburton to recover. They’ve already started by moving Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, and three picks for the Clippers’ Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown. And getting Haliburton back will be a breath of fresh air for this offense, which has really suffered in his absence with a rock-bottom 108.7 OFFRTG on the season. Yuck.

Nets vs. Pacers pick, best bet

Best bet: IND Pacers +6.5

At first glance, it’s tough to count on the Pacers to cover tonight’s spread with so many players out, but the Nets are also missing their best player. The Pacers will be fielding players who are still trying to compete for minutes and touches, and thus I’m expecting tonight’s affair to be closer than it seems. If we also factor in the fact that Nic Claxton is Doubtful, thus removing Brooklyn’s main rim protector, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Pacers pull out a rare W.