darrell,

wunderdog

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Good luck , darrell!

Game: New Jersey at Indiana (7:30 PM Eastern)
Pick: Indiana -1

The New Jersey Nets should be concerned. They dropped the regular season series to the Pacers and dropped the first game of the series at home as well. Now, the advantage shifts a bit towards the Pacers as the series is 1-1 and the Pacers can finish off the Nets at home if they choose and win the next 2 at home. This post season we've also noticed that the home favorites have won over 90% of the games SU thus far. Furthermore, the Nets are 2-8 in their last 10 playoff games as an underdog and 0-3 in their last 3 road playoff games whereas the Pacers are 6-1 of late as home favorites. Finally, the Nets are just 1-6 in their last 7 games ATS head to head v. the Pacers. The bottom line is this, game 1 of this series was vital for the Pacers to develop the confidence that they were lacking heading into the playoffs. Furthermore, they go into game 3 with a bit of revenge in their mind as well as they are playing on home court where they traditionally play better and where the Nets traditionally play much worse. Thus, let's take the home team here in a basic pick'em as they attempt to take a 2-1 lead with the understanding that this is a must win game for them as if they drop this game, they must either face elimination in game 4 or inevitably play game 5 in New Jersey - both scenarios they wish to avoid.