The struggle is real for the New York Knicks right now and they’ll hit the road again on Monday, where the results are especially bleak, to take on a surging—yet inconsistent—Indiana Pacers team. The Pacers have seen their share of big wins and big losses with a 20-point lead and deficit appearing in nearly half of their games to date.
Don't miss the hardwood action from Bankers Life Fieldhouse at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, January 23, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on TNT.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Monday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Pacers are a different team at home than on the road and are 16-5 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana’s home success hasn’t been quite as extreme ATS, but they’re still 12-10 ATS at home despite being five games below .500 ATS overall.
Meanwhile, the Pacers are also streaking in the right direction, having won seven of its last eight games and covering the spread in six of those contests.
On the other side of the hardwood, the Knicks are in free fall. They’re 5-14 SU since the middle of December. They have won two of their last four games which, while not great, is progress given the previous month.
They’ve also covered the spread in three of their last four games to improve to 25-18 ATS on the season and are a respectable 11-11 ATS on the road.
Injury Report
Rodney Stuckey is still out for the Pacers, but he’s the lone player on the injury list for Indiana and has missed the entirety of the team’s latest 7-1 run.
In the other locker room, the Knicks are dealing with a number of injuries in the front court. Lance Thomas is dealing with a concussion and facial injury depleting the depth on the inside, but the bigger news revolve around Joakim Noah and Kristaps Porzingis. Both—or either—could return to the court prior to Monday, but each providing their own set of issues if they’re out.
Porzingis is the team’s second best player after Carmelo Anthony. He’s second on the team in scoring with 19.4 PPG and offers solid defense with a couple blocks per game and a number of rebounds. Defense, after all, is a huge hole for this team.
Noah is also a big loss in the middle. He’s the team’s leader in rebounding and without him and Porzingis, the Knicks take a major hit against the boards. Anthony and Derrick Rose are both good offensive players, but this team has been bad on the defensive end of the floor even with Noah and Porzingis. They’re ranked amongst the worst teams in the NBA in defensive efficiency and deflections.
Last Meeting
We’ll see how much of a difference a couple weeks can make, but we’ve already seen the Pacers come out ahead while covering the spread at home here in 2017.
These two teams matched up on January 7 with Indiana topping New York 123-109. The Knicks made a strong late push in the fourth quarter, but fell behind too much early, going into the half down by 19 and going into the final quarter down by 26.
As has been the case most of the season, the Knicks were a mess defensively. The Pacers shot 50-percent from the floor and 45.8-percent from beyond the arc. They also annihilated the Knicks in rebounds with 53 to New York’s 32, and that was with a healthy Porzingis and Noah in the fold.
Individually, Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Ron Baker were the only two Knicks to see a significant positive differential while on the court. Meanwhile, the entire Pacer’s roster yielded positive marks.
Now, the Knicks did top the Pacers 118-111 when these two teams met on December 20 in New York, but Indiana is a winning team at home and a dismal one on the road.
Free NBA ATS Picks
The Knicks are a terrible defense and players are starting to talk about it, including Rose who has been as bad defensively as anyone.
This team started off the season strong and provided us with some optimism, but while there are good names on the roster, the chemistry is still lacking and the results bare that out.
With the Knicks now in a weakened state and the Pacers getting to take on New York in Indiana once again, look for another huge offensive games from Indiana with the Knicks getting too little, too late to hang close.
NBA Odds: Pacers 119, Knicks 103
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