Knicks vs. Pelicans pick: NBA odds, predictions, Friday, Apr. 7
It’s easy to look ahead to the Knicks’ first-round playoff matchup with the Cavaliers after both teams locked in their postseason seeds earlier this week.
But there are still two games left in the regular season, starting with Friday’s road contest against the Pelicans.
New Orleans is dealing as the heavy favorite ahead of this one, which won’t feature either of New York’s top two scorers in a game that’s little more than a footnote in the Knicks’ final tally.
Here’s how we’re betting Friday’s contest, which tips off at 8:10 p.m. ET on MSG Network.
Pelicans vs. Knicks pick
- Pelicans -7.5 (-110 BetMGM)
Pelicans vs. Knicks prediction and analysis
After the Knicks clinched the No. 5 seed in the East with Sunday’s win over the Wizards, it felt unlikely that we’d see Julius Randle (ankle), Jalen Brunson (hand) or RJ Barrett (illness) over the team’s final three games of the regular season.
Sure enough, those three were among five players who sat Wednesday and are once again on the injury report ahead of this one – with Randle and Brunson already ruled out of Friday’s affair.
That’s a serious blow for New York’s offense, which is scoring 11.4 points per 100 possessions more with those two on the court than without them.
And while we saw the Knicks’ B-squad drop 138 points on Wednesday against the tanking Pacers, I’d expect more resistance against the Pelicans, who have quietly posted the league’s second-best defensive rating (107.3) over their last 10 games.
They’ve also outscored opponents by 12.2 points per 100 possessions – behind only the Celtics (+16.1) and nearly five points better than the third-place Raptors (+7.7) – amid an 8-2 run to claw their way up the Western Conference standings.
A strong showing over these final two games could vault New Orleans as high as the No. 5 seed and bypass the play-in entirely.
It sure looks like Brandon Ingram is determined to make that happen.
Across those 10 games, the former All-Star wing is averaging 28.8 points, 8.7 assists and 6.3 rebounds on 51.5% shooting – the only player to hit those marks in the entire league in that span.
His two triple-doubles in that 10-game stretch were the first of his career, and his 13 assists on Wednesday tied a career high.
If he’s playing like that on Friday, I just don’t see the Knicks holding serve on the other end, even with Immanuel Quickley filling the box score in a leading role.
Much of that has come against suspect competition, which won’t be the case in this matchup.
- Pelicans -7.5 (-110), moneyline -350
- Knicks +7.5 (-110), moneyline +260
