Pacers-Knicks Game 7 predictions: Madison Square Garden might just be the biggest X factor
Game 7 is lining up nicely for the Knicks.
Game 7 at Madison Square Garden.
The NBA couldn’t have asked for better from a second-round playoff series between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers.
It’s been a back-and-forth affair between teams that have traded double-digit victories over the last three games after playing much closer contests the first three. But none of that will matter when the ball goes up in the air Sunday afternoon.
One team will move on to the conference finals and the other will go home. And though we can expect to see some inspired individual performances from the likes of Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton and others, the single-biggest determining factor of which team comes out on top might just be 56-year-old venue they’ll be playing in.
The Knicks are 3.5-point home favorites, and they should probably be favored by more considering both how they’ve performed at MSG this postseason and how poorly the Pacers have played on the road.
New York is 5-1 at the Garden in these playoffs, including 3-0 this series with a 14-point average margin of victory. Specifically, the Knicks’ offense has been vastly better at home, improving by more than eight points per possession over how they perform on the road. They have the second-best home offensive rating in these playoffs, only trailing the Pacers.
If this game were being played in Indiana, we might be having a different conversation. But the Pacers have been abysmal on the road. They’re 1-5 in the playoffs and 2-4 against the spread. And the biggest issue has been on the defensive side of the ball, where they allow 14 more points per possession away from home.
Even with the status of OG Anunoby and Josh Hart still in question for the Knicks, the home/away splits for each team paints an unfavorable ending for Indiana. That’s why I’m taking New York to come out on top and cover the spread in the process.
Prince’s Pick: Knicks -3.5 (Knicks 120, Pacers 107)