The Knicks fumbled away a chance to close out their first-round series against the 76ers at home on Tuesday night, and will now head back to Philly to with the hopes of avoiding a deciding Game 7.
(Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
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What was ultimately a crushing defeat from six points in front with just a minute remaining was littered with continued positives, however, as the Knicks should still hold the keys in this first-round encounter with their offense coming to play on several occasions over the past week.
Can the Knicks get this done on the road, or are we destined to see a decided on Saturday?
Let's get into how to bet on Knicks vs. 76ers on Thursday, May 2.
NEW YORK KNICKS VS. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS FANDUEL ODDS FOR MAY 2
MONEY LINE
- NEW YORK KNICKS: +130
- PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: -154
SPREAD
- NEW YORK KNICKS: +3 (-110)
- PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: -3 (-110)
OVER/UNDER (TOTAL)
- OVER 201.5 (-110)
- UNDER 201.5 (-100)
BEST ODDS FOR NEW YORK KNICKS VS. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
- The underdogs are being offered at slightly different numbers, with the best odds on the Knicks +3.5 (-115) at BetMGM.
- Caesars has the best odds on the Sixers -3 (-110)
- The best deal on the Over is at BetMGM, offering Over 201 (-115). BetRivers has the best odds on the Under 202.5 (-112)
NEW YORK KNICKS VS. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS INJURY REPORT
NEW YORK KNICKS INJURY REPORT
- BOJAN BOGDANOVIC - OUT - FOOT
- JULIUS RANDLE - OUT- SHOULDER
- MITCHELL ROBINSON - QUESTIONABLE - ANKLE
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS INJURY REPORT
- ROBERT COVINGTON - OUT - KNEE
- JOEL EMBIID - QUESTIONABLE - KNEE
WHY NEW YORK KNICKS WILL COVER THE SPREAD
The Knicks have been able to score the ball from outside to success several times in this series, though their shooters have run cold over the last couple of games at just around 27%. With that said, the 3-ball is their way into this matchup, given Philly's offense has really been nowhere to be found aside from a Game 3 explosion which saw it flirt with 50% from outside.
New York shot 44% from 3 in two games played in Philly during the regular season, continuing on with a trend which developed all year long. It was 0.8 percentage points better from outside on the road, and that margin was nearly three points in the second half of the season. It's important to bring this up because the vast majority of the Knicks' shots come from outside the arc, and this is the lone way they've been able to get to Philly's defense.
While that may sound damning, the work on the defensive end has been exceptional. As we noted in the intro, there was just one game in which the Knicks weren't able to quiet the Sixers, and that was one game where Philly had an outlier performance from 3. They were the seventh-best team in the league when it came to defending the arc from March until the end of the regular season, and best of all Joel Embiid has run cold over the last two games, shooting just 36.8% from the field and 20% from deep after drilling five 3s in Game 3.
Both teams have defended the rim well, but the Knicks have done so at a slightly better rate than the Sixers and still hold the advantage in the rebounding department to boot.
WHY PHILADELPHIA 76ERS WILL COVER THE SPREAD
The hope here for Philly is that its defense keeps its form from the past two games. It's certainly something that can remain true considering it was ranked inside the top 10 for the month of April, coinciding with the return of Embiid, and we've seen two straight games in which the Sixers have frustrated the Knicks' shooters. On top of that, the Knicks are now down Bojan Bogdanovic which will take one outside scorer out of the equation.
The Sixers also have the best player in this series in Embiid, and even though he hasn't been scoring over the last two games he's assisted on 16 baskets and has added six blocks and 26 rebounds down low. They're getting plenty out of him, and if he can shake off the knee injury that's been hampering him to deliver an other-worldly performance like we saw in Game 6, they simply will not lose.
The rebounding battle has also gone the Knicks' way in this series, but they did manage to steal away more available rebounds than their opponents in Game 5 and certainly have made that area of the matchup a lot more evenly-matched than many have expected.
It's also worth noting that for the boost the Knicks see shooting the ball on the road, the Sixers have seen a huge jump at home, leading me to believe another shootout could certainly be on the cards.
FINAL KNICKS-76ERS PICK & PREDICTION
I think we have to stay the course here and believe in the trends we've seen develop both in the final month of the season in this series. More often than not, the Knicks are going to prevail in the rebounding battle, and while the Sixers have done a bang-up job in protecting the rim the Knicks have done an even-better job by the numbers, and that's come without the services of Mitchell Robinson for most of the proceedings.
The Knicks' offense is simply stronger right now than the Sixers' given what we're seeing from Embiid, who simply may be fading from a physical standpoint. If he can't deliver a big scoring night, you would have to back the stronger shooting team, which has done an excellent job on the road and in this specific arena. The Knicks have also been able to largely hold the Sixers at bay from 3 with the exception of that Game 3.
I think the cream will rise here and the better team will show itself. That's the Knicks, who have showcased the steadiest play in this series with their defense, and have the higher ceiling offensively.
FINAL KNICKS-76ERS PICK & PREDICTION: KNICKS MONEYLINE (+135)
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