NBA Odds, Picks, Predictions: Knicks vs. 76ers Betting Preview (March 2)

Knicks vs. 76ers Odds

The Knicks and 76ers met on Sunday in New York, with Philadelphia pulling out a 16-point victory.

It's continued to be a rough season for New York, while Philly has title aspirations and has been dominant since the acquisition of James Harden.

Will Wednesday night's matchup go similarly to the one three days ago, or can the Knicks keep it close?

Knicks Continue to Look Overmatched

A season ago, the New York Knicks seemed immune to misery like this. They'd done well to build up their team with competence and some exciting young talent, and their lead man — Julius Randle — blossomed into an All-Star. We couldn't be any further from that point.

Entering Wednesday, the Knicks have now lost five in a row and 15 of their last 18 games, dating back to mid-January. Though that run has been filled with plenty of quality opponents — like the Sixers — New York's recent losses have perhaps been its most disheartening. The month of February saw the Knicks blow multiple 20+ point leads and fall to the likes of Brooklyn and Oklahoma City.

The Knicks' last game, against these same Sixers, offered a little bit of promise. Though the final score of 125-109 would indicate a blowout, New York was neck-and-neck with one of the best teams in basketball for the majority of the proceedings, even taking the lead late in the fourth quarter.

R.J. Barrett had 24 points to follow up on his 46-point performance against the Heat, and Randle was a few assists shy of a triple-double. If not for Mitchell Robinson and Jericho Sims both fouling out, perhaps the game could have remained close down the stretch.

It's important to note that while there were certainly positives, the Knicks still posted poor efficiency ratings in the game, scoring 104.8 points per 100 possessions and allowing 119.0. They may have competed well, but they were simply overmatched.

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76ers Thriving With Harden

The Sixers certainly look like a changed team in the wake of the Harden trade. In those two games, they've scored a whopping 124.6 points per 100 possessions — second-best since he debuted on Feb. 25 — and maintained their high level on defense.

Harden's special distribution skills have been on full display, and while he's averaged 14 assists in his two games the Sixers as a unit have had a ridiculous 72.5% assist rate in the two games to lead the NBA. This offense has been truly lethal, and now Philly will head back home to show off Harden to its home fans.

Playing at home has strangely been a big issue for the Sixers. They were unstoppable in Philly a season ago, but have gone just 11-18 against the spread at the Wells Fargo Center this season and 8-13 ATS as favorites at home.

The saving grace here is that the Sixers just dismantled the Knicks on the road and Joel Embiid was able to score 37 points on what has been a strong post defense all year against scoring bigs.

Knicks-76ers Pick

It's impossible not to fall in love with this Sixers team at the moment, which is why I completely understand this line. They are already a well-oiled machine on offense, and their defense has not been any worse for the wear with the roster turnover.

With that being said, Robinson and Sims fouling out of Sunday's proceedings was a huge deal. Robinson has been excellent at slowing opposing bigs this year, and given he is able to stay on the floor this game should be as close as Sunday's was. The Knicks have flashed some competence on defense since the All-Star break, and we should see enough to keep this one tight.

I'm going to fade Philly at home in what's been a profitable move all season and take (gulp) the Knicks.

Pick: Knicks +10.5 (-110)