The Philadelphia 76ers start out as favorites to win Game 3 of their NBA playoff match against the New York Knicks, despite trailing 0-2 in the series.
The 76ers have MoneyLine odds of -190 while New York can be had on +155.
The Knicks only just won game two in a 104-101 thriller and playing away from the Big Apple means an underdog tag.
The fitness of Philadelphia super star Joel Embiid will be crucial to their chances of gaining a foothold in the series. The big man scored 34 points to go with 10 rebounds and four assists. He struggled visibly from the ongoing meniscus damage suffered to his left knee and chances are he may be rested.
The 76ers do have Tyrese Maxey, who was feeling ill during Game 2, and even with discomfort he scored a game-high 35 points, to go with nine rebounds and 10 assists.
But take away Embiid and the 76ers contribution apart from Maxey was poor, with Tobias Harris the next highest points getter with 10.
The Knicks will look to their explosive star Jalen Brunson who scored 24 points in Game 2, while Josh Hart also on fire with 21 points and 15 rebounds.
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Breakdown: A Tale of Two Teams
Team 76ers Knicks Record 47-35-0 50-32-0 O/U Record 42-40 38-44 Spread Record 48-34 44-37-1 Injuries De’Anthony Meltin, Joel Embiid * Mitchell Robinson Key players to watch Jalen Brunson Tyrese Maxey - Time: 7.30 PM ET
- Venue: Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Live Stream: TNT, truTV, NBCS-PH, MSG
The head-to-head record between the two teams over the past five years is tilting towards Philadelphia with the 76ers leading 11-9.
The Knicks have won their last three encounters against the 76ers with a blowout 106-79 win seemingly sending Philadelphia into oblivion. But the 76ers have regrouped and picked up nine successive wins prior to the start of this series.
The Knicks are on a seven-game winning streak and will look to pick up a series-defining win in Pennsylvania.
New York has scored under 100 points just once in their last 17 games, in a 109-99 loss to the Miami Heat and are proven points scorers across the court.
The Knicks may be odds-on underdogs, but many aggregators believe they have a 61% chance of winning and going 3-0 up.
The 76ers lead almost every major statistic this season including assists, shots blocked, steals and points per game (113.7).
They both conceded around 111 points per game, while the Knicks, marginally top the rebounds stats.
Our Picks:
76ers vs the New York Knicks – Despite underdog tag, we believe the Knicks will go 3-0 up in the series
Philadelphia starts as favorites to win this match and move to 1-2 in this gripping series, but with an injury concern to their key player Joel Embiid, it looks like the Knicks could sneak this one away from home.
The 76ers are 7-3 against the spread at home over their last three games.
The over hit in 1 of the Philadelphia 76ers last 6 games against the New York Knicks and also hit in 4 of the Philadelphia 76ers last 5 games as a favorite.
The over hit in 3 of the Philadelphia 76ers last 4 games at home against opponents with a winning record. The over hit in 5 of the Philadelphia 76ers last 7 games and this further suggest an Over 201.5 game tonight.
The Knicks score an average 112.8 points per game, just 1.3 more points than the 111.5 the 76ers give up to opponents.
The Knicks have gone 8-2 over their past 10 contests with an overwhelming 80% success rate, with a 5-5 record against the spread during that span.
New York has been installed as underdogs by a 4.5-point margin or more 15 times and are 5-9-1 ATS in those games.
76ers ATS: The ATS record of Philadelphia is 48-34 this season. The O/U record for the 76ers is 42-40. The Philadelphia 76ers are 3-7 (.300) against the spread at home after a loss over their last 10 games.
Knicks ATS: The Knicks have an ATS of 44-37-1 this season. The O/U record for the Knicks is 38-44.
Pick 1: to go Over 9.5 points
Kelly Oubre of the 76ers scores 15.6 points per game against the Knicks, 6.1 more than his current over/under.
Pick 2: 76ers and Knicks to go Over the Total 201.5
The points spread is 201.5 and based on their last encounter, which saw 205 points scored combined in a narrow Knicks win, we are expecting an Over of 3.5 tonight.
