Indiana Pacers vs Boston Celtics Prediction, 1/21/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: Indiana Pacers vs Boston Celtics

Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NBC Sports Boston

The Indiana Pacers (10-34) are on their way to TD Garden on Wednesday where they will go up against the Boston Celtics (26-16).

The Pacers stepped onto the hardwood against the 76ers and ended up losing by a score of 113-104 in their last game. Indiana finished the contest having earned a 47.6% FG percentage (40 out of 84) and converted 13 out of their 34 shots from distance. From the free throw line, the Pacers knocked down 11 of their 14 attempts for a rate of 78.6%. In the matter of hauling in rebounds, they collected a total of 53 with 17 of them being of the offensive sort. They also distributed 22 assists for the contest while forcing the opposition into 17 turnovers and having 10 steals. When discussing the defense, Indiana allowed their opponent to shoot 47.7% from the floor on 42 out of 88 shooting. Philadelphia doled out 25 dimes and had 9 steals for the matchup. Furthermore, Philadelphia pulled down 49 boards (7 offensive, 42 defensive) and got 5 blocks. Philadelphia finished the contest at 66.7% when shooting free throws by converting 24 of their 36 attempts. They knocked down 5 of 17 tries from long range. Concerning personal fouls, the Pacers walked away with 25 while the 76ers recorded 21 personal fouls.

Andrew Nembhard is a player who was important for this game. He ended up walking away with 25 points on 9 of 15 shooting. He saw the court for 36 mins played and totaled 2 rebounds. Nembhard finished the game at 60.0% from the floor and dished out 5 assists.

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Indiana comes into this game with a mark of 10-34 on the season. They average 110.1 points per game (29th in the league) while hitting 44.3% from the field. The Pacers are shooting 34.2% on three-point attempts (549 of 1,606) and 76.8% from the free throw line. As a unit, Indiana is grabbing 42.8 rebounds per contest and has 1,101 dimes so far this year, which ranks 18th in the league in terms of passing. They are giving up possession 14.4 times per contest and as a group are committing 22.4 fouls on a nightly basis.

When they are on defense, the Pacers are forcing their opponents into 14.2 turnovers per contest while drawing 21.0 personal fouls. They currently rank 11th in the NBA in giving up assists to their opponents with 1,109 conceded for the campaign. The Pacers defensively are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 48.3% (1,884 of 3,900) and they relinquish 47.1 boards per game as a squad. They concede 34.1% on three-point shots and they rank 23rd in the league in PPG allowed (118.3).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Celtics took a defeat with a final score of 104-103 when they played the Pistons. In the matter of how they cleaned up the glass, Boston permitted Detroit to collect 38 in total (3 on the offensive glass). They went 31.4% from beyond the perimeter by connecting on 11 of 35 and ended up going 17 of 23 at the free throw line (73.9%). The Celtics allowed the Pistons to bury 38 out of 88 tries from the field which had them shooting 43.2% for the contest. Overall, the Celtics walked away from this one shooting 33 for 83 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 39.8%. When discussing shooting from downtown, Boston made 13 of 41 attempts (31.7%). They were able to knock down 24 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 80.0%. The Pistons were called for 21 personal fouls for the matchup which took the Celtics to the charity stripe for 30 attempts. They also coughed up the ball 14 times, while getting 10 steals for this game. The Celtics were able to corral 27 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive boards for a total of 42 in the game.

Jaylen Brown ended up being a major contributor for the Celtics for this contest. Brown racked up 32 points in his 39 mins on the court and accounted for 2 dimes in the game. He buried 11 out of 28 in the game giving him a field goal percentage of 39.3%, and had 11 rebounds.

Boston has a record of 26-16 on the season. As an offense, the Celtics are shooting 47.2% from the field, which has them ranked 13th in the NBA. Boston has tallied 4,902 points for the year (116.7 per game) and they pull in 44.9 rebounds per game. They are getting an assist 23.6 times per contest (29th in the league) and they cough up possession 12.1 times per contest. The Celtics have committed 20.5 fouls per contest and they connect on 79.7% from the free throw line.

The Boston defense concedes 36.7% on 3-pointers (601 of 1,638) and their opponents are knocking down 79.4% of their free throw shots. They allow 25.6 assists and 41.8 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 9th and 5th in the NBA. The Celtics on defense are ranked 2nd in the NBA in PPG allowed with 110.0. They are forcing their opponents into 13.4 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 44.8% from the field (3rd in basketball).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Boston

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