NBA Christmas Day: 76ers vs. Knicks Preview, Odds, Prediction

The East Conference classic between the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks will open the Christmas Day NBA program. These two units are currently in the upper part of the conference standings. They could end up in the first round of the playoffs, according to many of the pundits and their prognosis. Christmas Day at Madison is something special, and we don’t have to talk too much about it. The eyes of the entire world will be pointed toward the world’s most famous arena.

Preview

Philadelphia 76ers (19-12, -125) has seven straight wins right now, and are accelerating. James Harden began playing well, which has to be the reason for the Sixers’ performance rise. The Beard missed a few games this year, but following the game against the Clippers, we are more than sure he is 100% ready to endure the toughest challenges.

The Sixers won that event, 119-114, with Harden posting a big triple-double, with 20 points, 21 assists and 11 boards. Those 21 assists have been one of the best achievements in the Sixers’ franchise. On the other side, Joel Embiid was unstoppable as well.

He had 44 points in 38 minutes with seven boards and two blocks, 18-for-30 from the field, and is again in MVP mode. It is a pity that the media isn’t focused on the Process that much, because he plays one hell of a basketball.

The New York Knicks (18-15, +105) had an excellent streak, which was recently broken with back-to-back losses, both of them at Madison, and that’s something unexpected. But that’s the Knicks’ way, unpredictable and mostly disappointing. Each time this team gets into the rhythm, and everyone expects them to finally take a step forward, something like this happens.

After losing to the Toronto Raptors 113-106, the Knicks suffered another kick in teeth, when Chicago Bulls posted a narrow win, 118-117. DeMar DeRozan hit the clutch two, which turned out to be decisive, the Bulls avenged a defeat from a few days earlier at the United Center.

RJ Barrett had an explosion with 44 points and seven boards, hitting six threes in the same number of tries and 14 shots in 20 attempts overall. He also had six turnovers. Julius Randles had a double-double with 29 points and 12 boards, while Immanuel Quickley got off the bench to add 15 more buckets.

Head to Head Games

There was one game played between these two units this year. It was in Philly early in November, and the Knicks won, 106-104, with the guests rallying back in the fourth period, scoring 32 points and allowing 21. Jalen Brunson had 23 points and RJ Barrett 21. Randle scored 17. The Sixers were slashed with injuries, without Harden and Embiid, so Maxey led the way with 31 buckets, and Tobias Harris had 23.

Prediction

The Sixers are not only in better shape, but a much better team as well, and they simply have better players in pretty much all positions. The Knicks are under pressure to win, as usual when playing some important games at home, and therefore, we believe that the Sixers will take this factor to their advantage and routinely beat the hosts.

Pick: Sixers -1.5