Indiana Pacers vs Charlotte Hornets Prediction, 1/8/2026 Preview and Pick

Game: Indiana Pacers vs Charlotte Hornets

Date: Thursday, January 8, 2026

Location: Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

Spectrum Center is the location where the Charlotte Hornets (13-23) will take on the Indiana Pacers (6-31) on Thursday.

The Pacers played the Cavaliers and took a loss by a score of 120-116 in their last game. Indiana finished having earned a 46.2% field goal percentage (43 out of 93) and buried 16 of their 35 three-point shots. From the charity stripe, the Pacers converted 14 of their 19 shots for a percentage of 73.7%. With respect to grabbing boards, they earned 32 with 7 of them being on the offensive end. They also distributed 32 assists for the game while creating 19 turnovers and having 10 steals. When talking about the defense, Indiana allowed their opponent to shoot 55.7% from the floor on 49 out of 88 shooting. Cleveland recorded 33 dimes and had 7 steals for this contest. In addition, Cleveland snagged 48 rebounds (10 offensive, 38 defensive) and had 4 blocked shots. Cleveland finished shooting 66.7% from the charity stripe by converting 12 of 18 tries. They also knocked down 10 out of their 26 attempts from beyond the arc. In the matter of fouls, the Pacers ended up with 14 and the Cavaliers had 23 fouls.

Pascal Siakam is a guy who was a major contributor in this contest. He ended up finishing with 22 points on 9 of 23 shooting. He played 35 mins played and totaled 4 rebounds. Siakam went 39.1% from the floor and also distributed 3 dimes.

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Indiana steps onto the court with a mark of 6-31 so far this year. They turn it over 14.0 times per contest and as a basketball team they commit 22.9 fouls per contest. As a team, Indiana is collecting 42.5 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 905 assists this year, which is 23rd in the NBA in terms of passing the rock. The Pacers are hitting 33.8% on shots beyond the perimeter (456 of 1,348) and 77.2% from the charity stripe. They average 110.8 points per contest (28th in the NBA) while hitting 44.1% from the field.

On defense, the Pacers have forced 14.3 turnovers per contest while drawing 21.5 fouls. They are relinquishing 34.2% on shots from beyond the perimeter while they are 24th in the NBA in opponents points per game (119.7). The Pacers defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 48.6% (1,596 of 3,282) and they concede 47.5 boards per game as a squad. They are currently ranked 11th in the league in giving up assists to their opponents with 935 relinquished this year.

The last time they took the court, the Hornets got the victory with a final of 124-97 against the Thunder. The Hornets recorded 40 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive rebounds totaling 52 in the game. They also coughed up the ball 21 times, while recording 4 steals for the contest. The Thunder committed 14 personal fouls in this matchup which got the Hornets to the free throw line for a total of 25 shots. They were able to convert 23 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 92.0%. With regard to three-point attempts, Charlotte knocked down 19 out of their 37 tries (51.4%). Overall, the Hornets finished 41 for 77 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 53.2%. The Hornets permitted the Thunder to make 34 out of their 93 attempts from the floor which gave them a rate of 36.6% for the matchup. They went 28.2% from behind the 3-point line by going 11 of 39 and finished the game at 18 of 27 from the free throw line (66.7%). When talking about rebounding, Charlotte permitted Oklahoma City to get 33 overall (13 on the offensive side).

Brandon Miller was important for the Hornets in the matchup. He converted 8 out of 16 in the matchup giving him a rate of 50.0%, and tallied 6 rebounds. Miller had 28 points in his 31 mins of playing time and had 1 assist for the matchup.

Charlotte has a mark of 13-23 for the season. The Hornets are committing 19.3 fouls per game and they shoot 81.4% from the free throw line. Their rate of earning assists is at 26.4 times per contest (13th in the league) and they cough up possession 15.7 times per game. Charlotte has totaled 4,178 pts for the season (116.1 per game) and they pull in 44.8 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Hornets are hitting on 45.8% from the floor, which ranks 24th in basketball.

The Hornets on the defensive side of the court are 21st in the league in points per game surrendered with 117.9. They are able to force 12.8 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 48.5% from the field (24th in basketball). The Charlotte defense concedes 38.3% on 3-point attempts (487 of 1,273) and opponents are knocking down 80.3% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 28.6 dimes and 40.4 boards per game, which has them ranked 27th and 3rd in the league.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Indiana

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