The NBA has a couple of early afternoon matchups on Saturday headlined by an awesome tilt between the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic. Even with Paolo Banchero still sidelined, this could very easily be the best game of the day as two Eastern Conference contenders do battle. Both teams are hot at 7-3 across their last 10 games, but only one side can emerge with a win here.
Here’s a Knicks vs. Magic prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Saturday’s matchup.
Knicks vs. Magic prediction, preview
New York Knicks
The first campaign under head coach Mike Brown has begun in pleasant fashion for the New York faithful. The Knicks sit fourth in the conference at 9-5 behind one of the league’s top offenses and a respectable defense that’s also getting the job done. This team averages the seventh-most PPG with the fifth-best OFFRTG, only boosted since Jalen Brunson is probable to play after making his return from a two-game absence a couple of days ago. The superstar guard leads the squad with 28.0 PPG and 6.4 assists, so the Magic have their work cut out for them stopping the crafty scorer. Karl-Anthony Towns continues his dominance averaging a 21.5-point, 12.8-rebound double-double, though his three-point percentage of 31.7% does spark a little bit of concern for the big man. While OG Anunoby is out, fellow wing Mikal Bridges posts 16.1 PPG and should see some additional usage here as well. Defensively, the unit allows the 12th-fewest PPG to opponents with the 16th-ranked DEFRTG, setting up an overall NETRTG of +5.8, good for eighth in the NBA.
Orlando Magic
The Magic also have nine wins under their belts at 9-7, good for eighth in the Eastern Conference standings. Following a shoddy start, this team has begun to show signs of progress even if the injury to Paolo Banchero leaves the star sidelined for the moment. In his absence, Franz Wagner has stepped up as the primary scoring option with 22.6 PPG, followed by Desmond Bane with 16.8 in his first season with the team. Integrating the latter into this offense has been a process, but he’s getting more acquainted here with an uptick in scoring to 21.0 PPG over his last five games. Jalen Suggs will also suit up today as the Magic continue to play it safe with the young guard’s health, and his two-way prowess should prove beneficial as he sees minutes in the high 20s. The offense isn’t stellar at 19th in scoring and 18th in OFFRTG, but Orlando hangs its hat on tough defense with the seventh-fewest opponent PPG and sixth-best DEFRTG. That adds up to a NETRTG of +3.5, which falls 13th in the Association.
Knicks vs. Magic pick, best bet
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the odds indicate a very close contest in Florida today. The Magic are -1.5 favorites with -118 odds on the Moneyline, though the Knicks are listed at -102 to win outright themselves. The game total sits at 230.5 combined points.
Something to note for this game today is that the Magic are a strong 6-3 when playing on their own home floor, while the Knicks are just 1-4 away from Madison Square Garden. That’s a trend to keep an eye on here, especially with the contest of the Knicks shooting a whopping nine percentage points worse from three-point range when on the road.
Orlando’s big men aren’t exactly dominant forces on defense, though Wendell Carter Jr. and Goga Bitadze do deserve plenty of credit as under-the-radar role players. They may struggle a little bit dealing with Towns in the paint, but the good news is that the perimeter defenders the Magic deploy are plenty capable of slowing down Brunson. On the flip side, the Knicks are down one of their best defenders without Anunoby and don’t have much standout talent on that side of the ball in the starting lineup beyond Bridges and Mitchell Robinson. Wagner has excelled as the main guy for Orlando’s offense, Bane is capable of creating his own shots, and Suggs as well as Tristan da Silva are quietly positioned to pour in some points themselves here.
I trust the Magic defense to slow the pace today and grind out a tough win at home. It’ll be a battle, but the home/road splits have me comfortable taking a straight Moneyline pick here. Play the song!
Top pick: ORL Magic ML (-118)
