The New York Knicks op their series deciding play-off match against the Philadelphia 76ers as favorites after going 1-0 up in their series opener on the weekend, winning 111-104.
The Knicks are the number two seeds while Philadelphia go into the series as the number seven seeds.
The form of Joel Embiid of the 76ers will go a long way into equalling the series as he scored 29 points in Game 1 and is averaging 32 points in his last five games against the New York team.
But Embiid suffered a knee injury in the loss, and while he is listed as questionable you can be sure he will take to the court. Whether he is the same player will be interesting, but Philadelphia has a proven scorer in Tyrese Maxey, who picked up 33 in their loss in Game 1.
Jalen Brunson will be instrumental for the Knicks, and this can be seen in his odds of O/U, set at 30.5. Josh Hart has been excellent on the rebounds while Josh hart has also been in top form.
Make your picks for New York Knicks vs Philadelphia 76ers at BetMGM: Click Here!
-
Breakdown: A Tale of Two Teams
Team Knicks 76ers Record 50-32-0 47-35-0 O/U Record 58-24 67-15 Spread Record 35-10 40-14 Injuries Julius Randle De’Anthony Melton, Robert Covington Key players to watch Jalen Brunson Tyrese Maxey - Time: 7.30 PM ET
- Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
- Live Stream: TNT, MSG, Fubo, NBA League Pass
The head-to-head record between the two teams over the past five years shows favors the 76ers who have a winning 11-8 record. New York has won their last two games against Philadelphia though.
On March 11, in a rare occurrence across all matches in the league this season both teams failed to hit 80 points as the 76ers won 79-73 at Madison Square Gardens.
Interestingly enough that was the second successive game between the two that the 76ers managed only 79 points and they have failed to break 100 against the Knicks in four of their last five direct matchup’s.
Philadelphia has won nine of their last ten games and only loss last out to the Knicks, while New York has managed six wins on the trot.
Our Picks:
Knicks vs 76ers – Knicks open up as favorites to lead the series 2-0 against the 76ers
The Knicks start as the MoneyLine favorites at -204 while4 the 76ers can be had at +169. The Pick O/U for the combined total is 209.
The Knicks have been the favorite in 48 games this season and has won 36 times, going at a win-ratio of 75% as predicted winners.
Even better for punters is that New York has won 24 of 29 games when the MoneyLine has been -204 or better.
The 76ers has been the underdogs in 31 games and are 9-22 as likely losers. With odds of +169 or longer Philly has a 4-13 record.
This all points to a Knicks win.
The 76ers are 2-7 on the road as an underdog in their last nine games and are 2-10 as underdog in their last 10 matches.
The Over has hit in 45 of the 76ers 84 games this season. The Knicks are 37-11 as favorites and are 4-2 against top 10 scoring defenses over their last six encounters.
Knicks ATS: The Knicks start favorites with an ATS record of 35-10, and they will likely go Over once again.
76ers ATS: The 76ers also has a favorable ATS record this season going at 40-14.
Pick 1: Joel Embiid of the 76ers is tipped to score Under the 29.5 benchmark set for him in this game.
Joel Embiid, despite missing 45 regular season games has played out of his socks lately and picked up 29 points against the Knicks in their series opening loss in Game 1. But look to the big man to go Under as he will be carrying an injured knee into the match.
Pick 2: Knicks and 76ers Total to beat the spread for a combined points tally of 209
The Knicks score an average of 112.8 points per game and the 76ers average 114.6. Combined averages mean the game will be in the region of 222 points, but in a playoff game, the scores are generally tighter.
