Charlotte Hornets vs New York Knicks Prediction, Odds and Picks for Tomorrow, 04/12/26

It’s not often you see the Charlotte Hornets head into Madison Square Garden as 7.5 point favorites, but that’s exactly the case on the final day of the regular season as they try to wrap up the 9th seed. The Miami Heat can still leap over the Hornets in the standings, they are one game back but hold the tie breaker having won the regular season series. That should hopefully motivate the Hornets to do well here, their only visit to this building earlier this season was a 15-point loss back in December. Since then they’ve put together one of the more remarkable runs we’ve seen in recent years, they head into this game having won 14 of 17 road games.

For the Knicks everything has been settled in terms of Playoff positioning. They’re now locked into the 3rd seed behind the Pistons and Celtics, following Friday’s big win over Toronto. They are hoping the Raptors are the team they face in the opening round as they’ve won all 5 meetings against Canada’s only team. It’s quite possible that head coach Mike Brown will field a weakened line-up here, just to give the likes of Brunson, KAT and others some rest before the postseason begins. The only starter I expect to play here is Mikal Bridges as he doesn’t miss games, but even he should check out early and take the rest of the night off, as it’s been the case in recent years.

You have to like Charlotte’s chances against the Knicks reserves here. A win guarantees the Hornets home court advantage in the play-in game against the 10th seeded Miami Heat. For the way they’ve played the last couple of months, I think their fans deserve at least one playoff like atmosphere before the season is over and they’ll get exactly that after they beat the Knicks and secure the 9th seed here. Take Charlotte.

Charlotte Hornets vs New York Knicks Predictions: Hornets -7.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.