NBA: New York Knick vs. Indiana Pacers Preview, Odds, Prediction

The New York Knicks have no time to waste following their win in San Antonio as they face the Indiana Pacers already tonight. The franchise from the Big Apple is flying from Texas to Indiana to meet the big rivals less than 24 hours after beating the Spurs. This is a big game for both sides, because of their playoff ambitions. Both the Knicks and the Pacers want to reach the postseason; therefore, a triumph against the direct rival is a big deal regardless of the stage of the season.

Preview

New York Knicks (12-12, -180) were better than the Spurs in San Antonio, 121-109, which was their first success following three defeats. Overall, the Knicks have been shaky in recent times, because it seems that the media and the hype created by the same put too much pressure on them following a solid start.

RJ Barrett took matters in his hands in Texas, scoring 32 points while shooting seven of eight from three-point territory. Alec Burks had 18 points, and Julius Randle 15 with seven assists and boards each.

The big plus for Tom Thibodeau’s crew were nonstarters. Immanuel Quickley had 16 points, Derrick Rose 12, and Mitchel Robinson 11 with 14 boards, 8 of them on the offensive side. The Knicks were shooting very well for three overall, hitting 18 times in 38 attempts, which is 47.4%, a very good efficiency.

Indiana Pacers (10-16, -170) have had four losses in a row, before defeating the Washington Wizards at home, 116-110 in their previous matchup. The Pacers are one pretty odd bunch, able to beat anyone, but also lose at any given moment against the worst teams in the league.

Against Washington, Indiana opened the game well, creating a double-digit point lead early on, and eventually keeping that until the end of the match. As usual, Domantas Sabonis was the man in the middle, with 30 points, 11-for-15 shooting, adding 10 rebounds, six dimes, and three steals. The Lithuanian is really one of the best players in the league in his position.

Caris LeVert scored 19, while Chris Duarte ended the night with 13 buckets. Malcolm Brogdon contributed with 17 points, eight assists, and six rebounds, perfectly orchestrating the Pacers’ flow throughout all 48 minutes. Also, what we need to mention is that Indiana limited the Wizards to just 30 boards, which is a fabulous job.

Head to Head

We’ve seen these two teams already meeting twice this year. The first game took place in Indianapolis, and the hosts posted a 111-98 win over the big rivals. The Knicks would respond later in New York, triumphing in a low-scoring affair, 92-84.

Prediction

We were looking at these two teams’ trends and found out that six of the past seven games Indiana played saw Over, while on the other side, the same happened in five of the Knicks’ recent six events. The line for the total in this matchup is 212.5, which might be too high if the game took place in Madison, where the Knicks impose their defense and foul criteria, but things are going to be different in Indiana. Due to that, we are going with Over in this contest.

Pick: Over 212.5 points

Here is the preview for the game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat.