It promises to be an emotional opening night at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday as the New York Knicks raise their first championship banner since 1973. The Philadelphia 76ers won’t care too much about that though, as they look to spoil the party with their new look squad. Philly will be playing with an extra edge on opening night as they face the team that swept them in the East semi-finals last year. Although they went 1-3 SU during the preseason, the Sixers did beat the Knicks by 23 points in early October for what it’s worth. This team is a work in progress and will be one for a while until their newly acquired stars settle in. I am looking at Joel Embiid in particular to excel here, as he faces a Knicks team without Mitchell Robinson manning the middle.
New York’s offseason wasn’t the best – apart from losing Mitchell Robinson, they also failed to agree to a new contract with Karl-Anthony Towns which could linger over the team’s head for the remainder of the season. Not having a proper center like Mitchell puts the Knicks in a difficult situation on opening night, the matchup on the inside might very well determine the outcome of this game. Similarly to their opponent, the Knicks also struggled in preseason winning just once in 5 games, shooting the three-ball at just 25.3% during that stretch. Josh Hart also sat out the final game with an ankle issue, that’s not the news you want to hear ahead of a game against a player like Tyrese Maxey. One thing the Knicks will have going in their favor is the crowd – this could be the most expensive regular season ever in the NBA and you just know the atmosphere will be buzzing.
The Sixers are out to prove themselves here, I feel like the Knicks will have a hard time dealing with Embiid down low. Slowing down Maxey will also be an issue, the combination of speed and quickness he possesses causes problems even for better defenders than a hobbled Josh Hart is. I can’t see the Knicks running away with this one, give me Philadelphia plus the points.
76ers vs Knicks Predictions: 76ers +4.5 Point Spread is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
