Nets Finally Break Through, Cash as Road Dogs in Indy

The Nets snapped their 0-5 skid with a gritty 98-90 road win over the Pacers, and DarkHorse backers who rode Brooklyn +3.5 cashed comfortably in what turned into a defensive slugfest. This wasn't the offensive fireworks show either team had been flashing—both clubs shot under 42% from the field—but the Nets didn't need pretty when Indiana's depleted roster ran out of gas down the stretch.

Without Tyrese Haliburton orchestrating the offense, the Pacers looked exactly like a team that's lost four straight. They managed just 90 points at home, a far cry from their 121.5 road average, and couldn't generate consistent scoring against a Brooklyn defense that finally found some bite. The Nets controlled the glass and capitalized on second-chance opportunities, grinding out possessions in the fourth quarter while Indiana's undermanned rotation wore thin.

Brooklyn's 122.5 road scoring average didn't materialize, but 98 was more than enough against a Pacers squad missing its engine. The sharp money that pushed this line from Pacers -4.5 to -3.5 knew something: injuries matter, and fade the short home favorite when the roster's held together with duct tape. The Nets got their first W, DarkHorse nailed the call, and Indiana's home woes hit 0-3. Sometimes the math just works.