Category: NBA

New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Saturday’s New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers sports betting odds and lines, with NBA betting picks, tips and best bets.

The New York Knicks (13-36) visit the Indiana Pacers (31-17) Saturday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET. We analyze the Knicks-Pacers sports betting odds and lines, with NBA betting advice and tips around the matchup.

Knicks at Pacers: Key Injuries

Knicks

  • SG RJ Barrett (ankle) out
  • PG Frank Ntilikina (groin) probable

Get some action on this game or others by placing a bet at BetMGM.

Knicks at Pacers: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips

NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated Saturday at 9:25 a.m. ET.

Prediction

Pacers 116, Knicks 99

Moneyline (ML)

The Pacers (-589) have their full lineup for Saturday’s home date with the Knicks (+425), and they’re rightfully commanding favorites. Pacers SG Victor Oladipo returned to the lineup Wednesday and put up 9 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds in his first 21 minutes of the 2019-20 season. Indiana is 8-2 across its last 10 games and 18-5 on home court for the season.

New York is 3-7 across its last 10 games and a woeful 6-18 on the road. Both teams last played Wednesday, when the Pacers beat the Chicago Bulls 115-106 in overtime and the Knicks lost 127-106 to the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Pacers are the easy choice to win this game, but we don’t swallow that kind of chalk around here. PASS on the moneyline in favor of the spread.

New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Pacers to win outright returns a profit of just $1.70.

Line/Against the Spread (ATS)

The spread becomes a little more interesting, with the PACERS (-10.5, -115) needing to win by at least 11 points. They’re still the pick, despite beating the Knicks by a narrow 104-103 count Dec. 7 in the season’s first head-to-head meeting.

The Pacers are 27-20-1 against the spread overall and 13-9-1 on their home floor. The Knicks are 25-24 ATS overall and 12-12 on the road. Indiana is 20-8-1 ATS when playing on equal rest as its opposition. New York is 13-11 ATS in the same situation.

Over/Under (O/U)

Take the OVER 213.5 (-115) on a low projection. I expect a better offensive performance from Oladipo in his second game back from injury. The Knicks are also missing a key defender in Ntilikina. The Pacers have scored at least 110 points in each of their last four games.

Esten’s NBA betting record: 170-140

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All-Star vote: The players who always do better with fans than peers

For the fourth year in a row, the NBA has disclosed the vote for All-Star starters of fans, media and players. Since we now have the data of where each player ranked in the final results, we decided to look for patterns. For example, which players …

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For the fourth year in a row, the NBA has disclosed the vote for All-Star starters of fans, media and players. Since we now have the data of where each player ranked in the final results, we decided to look for patterns.

For example, which players do better with fans than with their NBA peers?

We found out 16 guys have ranked higher in the fan vote than in the players vote every year since 2017. Only two on the list have made the All-Star Game and they are both members of the world-beating Golden State Warriors: Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Kind of makes you go ‘Hmmm’, right?

The largest disparity between player and fan vote happens with Jordan Clarkson, though, which was kind of unexpected.

For more details, you can check the gallery above. All rankings based on position and conference.

See Usher’s incredible performance of ‘Amazing Grace’ before Lakers-Blazers game

Usher sang ‘Amazing Grace’ in tribute to Kobe and Gianna Bryant.

The Lakers celebrated the lives of Kobe and Gianna Bryant on Friday night before their first game since the tragic accident that claimed nine lives last weekend. The team arranged a special musical performance during a tribute video on the scoreboard, and LeBron James delivered a moving speech prior to tipoff. Usher opened the ceremonies with an unforgettable performance of “Amazing Grace.”

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Watch LeBron James’ moving speech before Lakers-Blazers game

“Live on, brother.”

The Lakers celebrated the lives of Kobe and Gianna Bryant during an emotional pregame ceremony on Friday night before a game against the Trail Blazers, and LeBron James delivered a speech to the crowd before tipoff.

James began his speech by reading the names of the nine people who lost their lives in the tragic crash, and then threw out his script for the speech and spoke from the heart.

“The first thing that comes to mind is all about family. And as I look around this arena, we’re all grieving. We’re all hurt. We’re all heartbroken. When we’re going through things like this, the best thing you can do is lean on the shoulders of your family.

…. I want to continue along with my teammates and continue his legacy, not only for this year, for as long as we can play this game of basketball that we love, because that’s what Kobe Bryant would want.”

The Lakers played a emotional tribute video to Bryant during the pregame ceremonies.

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Watch ESPN’s beautiful tribute video for Kobe and Gianna Bryant

This was incredible.

The Los Angeles Lakers returned to the Staples Center to play their first game since NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others lost their lives in a tragic helicopter accident last weekend.

In the pre-game broadcast on ESPN, a panel of former players and broadcasters shared their memories of Bryant, and ESPN aired a phenomenal tribute video narrated by actor Michael B. Jordan.

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See LeBron James’ new Black Mamba tattoo in honor of Kobe Bryant

LeBron James shows off his new Kobe Bryant tattoo.

NBA players across the league have been paying tribute to Kobe Bryant and Bryant’s family this week after the horrible tragedy that claimed nine lives last weekend. Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis revealed on social media that they were both getting tattoos in honor of Bryant, and James showed off his new ink on Friday.

Before taking the floor at Staples Center for the Lakers’ first game since Bryant’s passing, James shared a photo of his new tattoo on Instagram. The tattoo, an illustration of a black mamba, features Bryant’s two numbers with the Lakers, and the words “Mamba 4 Life.”

The Lakers are paying tribute to Bryant for the rest of the season with a patch on their jersey, and the team also added Bryant’s numbers and initials to the floor design.

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Lakers update court with Kobe Bryant’s numbers, initials

The Lakers have updated their court design with tributes to Kobe Bryant.

The Los Angeles Lakers will return to Staples Center on Friday night to play their first game since NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others lost their lives in a tragic helicopter accident last weekend. The Lakers were scheduled to play against the Clippers on Tuesday, but that game was postponed as team members and fans grieved in the aftermath of the accident.

Thousands of Lakers fans have gathered outside of Staples Center this week, and many have left flowers, signs and jerseys in tribute to Bryant. On Friday night, the Lakers are giving Bryant shirts to everyone who attends the game, with half of the arena receiving Bryant’s No. 8, and the other half receiving No. 24.

The Lakers’ court will also have an updated look. In photos shared on Twitter, the Lakers revealed that Bryant’s two retired numbers have been placed along the sideline.

Beside the baseline, the Lakers have added a circle with Bryant’s initials ‘KB.’

The same circle has been added to the Lakers’ uniforms.

On Friday, the NBA and NBPA announced a joint donation of $100,000 to a fund that will aid the families of the crash victims.

 

The Blazers-Lakers game will begin at 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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A look back in cool pics: Where Kobe Bryant ranks among the NBA greats in scoring

It was an extremely sad day for many when they learned that Kobe Bryant and his daughter, along with seven others, perished in a helicopter crash in California. But we still feel it’s important to revisit where he ranks among the all-time greats in …

It was an extremely sad day for many when they learned that Kobe Bryant and his daughter, along with seven others, perished in a helicopter crash in California.

But we still feel it’s important to revisit where he ranks among the all-time greats in NBA scoring. And hopefully, these pics show the pride and passion and intensity these 10 men proved over their careers.

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2019-20 Mavericks are the best away team ever relative to home record

When the Dallas Mavericks come to town, their games have been among the hottest tickets in basketball thanks to the young Luka Doncic.

When the Dallas Mavericks come to town, their games have been among the hottest tickets in basketball thanks to the young Luka Doncic. Fans across the league are always going to be eager to watch a sensational star like the second-year guard. But what has been especially interesting is how much better this Dallas squad has played in their road games compared to when they have played at home in Texas.

The Mavericks currently have 16 wins and just six losses (.727 winning percentage) during their away games. But their games at American Airlines Center in Dallas have been less favorable. Their squad has 13 wins and 12 losses (.520 winning percentage) at home so far this season.

When subtracting the difference, their mark (20.7 percent) is surprisingly the largest in league history dating back to the merger with the BAA (Basketball Association of America) back in 1946-47.

For context, the previous largest mark over the course of a full 82-game season was from the Houston Rockets in 2005-06. They were 19-22 (.463 percent) on the road and 15-26 (.366) when playing at home. Houston stars Tracy McGrady (47 games played) and Yao Ming (57 games played) were both plagued with injuries that season.

But it is worth noting that their away vs. home differential (9.7 percent) is still less than half of what the Mavericks are currently doing in 2019-20.

Breaking it down further, Dallas is currently outscoring opponents by 7.1 points per 100 possessions on the road. That is good for the second-best net rating among all road teams this season. Compare that with their net rating at home (4.7), which currently ranks fourteenth-best in the league.

Meanwhile, their offensive rating on the road (117.8) is the best in the NBA.

While the correlation here does not necessarily equal causation, it is worth mentioning that Doncic is averaging 3.5 turnovers per game on the road but 4.7 turnovers per game at home. His assist-to-turnover rate has also been a lot better on the road (2.64) than it has been in Dallas (1.76) so far in 2019-20.

Also worth noting that the Top 3 squads on this list (Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns) are all current teams in the Western Conference. We are more than halfway through the season so it is no longer just small sample size theatre.

Alberto de Roa contributed research to this article

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