Philadelphia 76ers vs New York Knicks Prediction, 12/26/2020 NBA Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Philadelphia 76ers vs New York Knicks

Date: Saturday, December 26, 2020

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

TV: NBATV

Odds/Point Spread: Philadelphia (-6.5)

The Philadelphia 76ers (43-30 last season) go to Madison Square Garden on Saturday where they'll take on the New York Knicks (21-45 last year). The spread on this matchup has Philadelphia as 6.5-point favorites. The over/under opens at 217.5.

The Philadelphia 76ers stepped onto the hardwood against the Washington Wizards and earned the victory with a final of 113-107 in their last game. Philadelphia wrapped up the game with a 47.1% field goal percentage (41 out of 87) and made 8 out of their 28 shots from 3-point land. From the charity stripe, the 76ers made 23 of 30 attempts for a percentage of 76.7%. When discussing rebounding, they compiled a total of 47 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. They also distributed 22 assists for this game in addition to earning 11 steals and 8 blocked shots. When talking about the defense, Philadelphia allowed their opponent to shoot 45.9% from the field on 39 out of 85 shooting. Washington distributed 28 dimes and had 7 steals in this game. Additionally, the Wizards snagged 40 rebounds (5 offensive, 35 defensive) and had 4 rejections. Washington finished the contest at 69.6% when shooting free throws by converting 16 of 23 attempts. They also buried 13 of their 27 attempts from beyond the arc.

Joel Embiid is one player who was a factor for the matchup. He ended up finishing with 29 points on 10 out of 17 shooting. He played 34:50 mins and totaled 14 rebounds. Embiid walked away from this one shooting 58.8% from the field and also totaled 2 assists. An additional guy that was a determining factor in this game for the 76ers was Ben Simmons. He snagged 9 rebounds and also tallied 7 dimes. He finished the game shooting 58.3% from the floor in this game via 7-of-12 (16 points). When the game finished, Simmons played 32:25 min.

Philadelphia comes into this contest after finishing with a win-loss mark of 43-30 last year. They lost possession via turnover 14.2 times per contest and as a unit committed 20.9 personal fouls every game. As a group, Philadelphia pulled down 45.4 boards per game and earned 1,884 dimes throughout last season, which was 8th in the NBA in terms of passing. The 76ers shot 36.8% on three-point attempts (848 of 2,307) and 75.5% from the charity stripe. They had an average of 110.7 points per outing (20th in the NBA) while going 46.8% from the floor. When they were on the defensive end, the 76ers were able to force their opponents into 13.8 turnovers per game and they drew 20.5 personal fouls. The 76ers allowed an opponent shooting percentage of 46.3% (2,905 of 6,275) and they surrendered 41.8 rebounds per contest as a unit. They were 9th in the league in allowing assists to their opponents with 1,661 surrendered last season. They gave up 35.3% on three-point shots while they were 6th in the NBA in PPG allowed (108.4).

For their last game, the New York Knicks went home defeated by a final of 121-107 when they faced the Indiana Pacers. The Knicks collected 35 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive rebounds for a total of 40 for the contest. They stuffed 8 tries while getting 8 steals for the contest. The Pacers had 24 personal fouls in the matchup which got the Knicks to the free throw line for a total of 23 shots. They were able to convert 17 of those for a percentage of 73.9%. In terms of three-point shots, New York converted 12 of their 28 attempts (42.9%). Overall, the Knicks went 39 out of 85 from the floor which had them shooting 45.9%. The Knicks allowed the Pacers to knock down 46 of their 94 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 48.9% for this game. They finished 23.5% from behind the 3-point line by going 8 out of 34 and finished the game at 21 of 29 from the charity stripe (72.4%). When discussing cleaning the glass, New York permitted Indiana to get 50 overall (10 on the offensive side).

Julius Randle ended up being a factor for the Knicks for this contest. He converted 7 of 15 in this contest for a rate of 46.7%, which had him finishing with 17 points. Randle pulled down 9 rebounds in his 35:28 minutes of time on the court and accounted for 9 dimes for this contest. An additional guy that ended being a contributor for New York was RJ Barrett. He totaled 26 points in his 34:22 minutes on the hardwood by way of 11 of 15 shooting in this game. Barrett finished going 73.3% from the field while also earning 5 assists and 8 total rebounds.

New York had a win-loss record of 21-45 last season. On the offensive side of the ball, the Knicks shot 44.7% from the field, which was ranked 25th in basketball. New York scored 6,983 pts last season (105.8 per game) and they collected 46.5 rebounds per contest. They earned an assist 22.1 times per contest (27th in the league) and they coughed up possession 14.3 times per game. The Knicks were responsible for committing 22.2 fouls per game and they hit 69.4% from the charity stripe. The Knicks defensively were ranked 18th in basketball in PPG given up with 112.3. They forced 13.7 TO's per game and allowed teams to shoot 46.3% from the field (17th in basketball). The New York defense conceded 38.1% on three-point shots (877 of 2,303) and their opponents made 74.9% of their free throw attempts. They allowed 24.3 dimes and 44.2 boards per contest, which was ranked 12th and 10th in those defensive categories.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Philadelphia (-6.5)

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