NBA Playoffs 2023/24, 1st round, game 1, Sunday, 21.04.2024
The highly anticipated first playoff duel between the in-form teams from Manhattan and Philadelphia will take place on Sunday night. The best basketball entertainment should therefore be guaranteed at the legendary Madison Square Garden!
My Knicks 76ers betting tip, for which the current Interwetten bonus applies, explains why a low-scoring game and a maximum of 210 points in the overall game are to be expected
The New York Knicks dramatically secured the second seed in the Eastern Conference with an overtime win against the Chicago Bulls on the last matchday of the regular season.
For the first time since 2013, the Knickerbockers were able to notch up 50 wins in a season and are therefore one of the big positive surprises of the current NBA season.
The team under the aegis of defensive guru Tom Thibodeau has won all of its last five games.
With the seventh-best offense (rating of 117.3) and the ninth-best defense (112.4), the New York Islanders were one of only four teams to finish in the top 10 at both ends of the court.
Since the turn of the year, the team from Manhattan even has the third-best defense in the league (110.3).
This is due in particular to the acquisition of elite wing defender OG Anunoby, who came from Toronto in a trade at the New Year.
Since the addition of Anunoby, NYK has a brilliant 20-3 record in games with the Anglo-Nigerian, but only one of 13-14 without the new addition.
With first-time All-Star Jalen Brunson, New York also has a sure-fire All-NBA player who should also garner some MVP votes.
The lively guard has a scoring average of 28.7 with strong percentages of 47.9 % from the field and 40.1 % from the three-point line.
The fact that the Knicks will have to do without their second-best scoring option for the rest of the season in power forward Julius Randle, who is out injured due to shoulder surgery, is currently an afterthought at best.
But the upcoming playoff opponents from Philadelphia are also in tremendous form with nine wins in a row and certainly an unusually thankless first-round opponent for a second seed.
The almost two-month absence of center superstar Joel Embiid (34.7 points, 11 rebounds and 5.6 assists) in particular explains why the 76ers only finished the season in seventh place in the East and had to prove themselves in the play-in tournament.
On Thursday night, they beat the visiting Miami Heat by the narrowest of margins 105-104, with the Floridians’ zone defense posing the 76ers some serious problems.
Embiid’s co-star Tyrese Maxey (19 points on 6/16 shots) in particular was denied the opportunity to penetrate the zone with speed and open up space for his teammates or find easy finishes of his own.
The point guard matchup between All-Stars Maxey and Brunson is likely to be the key duel for the course of the series between the two East Coast teams anyway.
Joel Embiid, meanwhile, will have to deal with Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson, two of the best defense-first big men in the Association, under the basket.
The fact that the Knicks have won three of their four regular-season duels against Philadelphia speaks in their favor.
It is striking that the four games so far have been extremely low-scoring, with an average of just 190.8 points, and that there has usually been a clear winner.
The clashes ended with an average margin of 20.8 points, with only the game on March 10 (a 79-73 win for Philadelphia) ending in a narrow victory.
In tonight’s game, however, I expect both a close outcome (more in favor of the Knicks) and well-prepared defensive lines
Therefore, I recommend betting on less than 210.5 points in the Interwetten App, which is rewarded with attractive odds of 1.70.
After all, the last three direct duels have remained below this mark (an average of just 181 points).
In addition, the Knicks play at the slowest pace in the league, while the 76ers also play at an above-average pace with the thirteenth slowest pace.
The playoffs and especially the often nervous atmosphere of the first playoff game should accentuate this fact.
Therefore, my Knicks 76ers tip for tonight is: Under 210.5 points in the game!
