Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks Predictions, Odds, Picks

VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert

6 minute read

Oct. 25, 2021

Eytan Shander
VI Betting Expert
VegasInsider.com

An old rivalry rekindles for this first time this season as the Knicks and Sixers battle Tuesday night. The two teams tip at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT at Madison Square Garden.

Score Prediction

Knicks 124, Sixers 120

Best Bets

Knicks -1

Over

Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks Predictions

The Sixers seem unphased by the outside drama surrounding Ben Simmons, instead starting 2-1 with the lone loss coming to Brooklyn. Joel Embiid leads a cast so far scoring points and not seeing a major setback on defense without Simmons.

The season is still early but they face another difficult task in beating the other New York team. The arrival of Tyrese Maxey at the PG position has clearly helped, as he and Matisse Thybulle will be charged with slowing down the guard-heavy production from the Knicks. Tobias Harris is off to a solid start and Seth Curry is lights out right now, but neither doing enough on defense to help them beat the Knicks.

Julius Randle will give Embiid a run for the most difficult matchup on the floor. Randle is healthy whereas the Sixers big man is still working through a knee injury. The Knicks forward is off to another ridiculous start averaging over 28 points and 11 rebounds per-game. Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose, and Kemba Walker provide a healthy rotation of points.

The Sixers struggled the past seasons containing smaller scoring guards, so this watch for this to be another exploitable matchup for the Knicks, and eventually why they win and cover at home.

It’s early in the season but the Knicks picked up from last year, with a little more bump in their offense. As expected, newcomers Fournier and Walker are making an immediate impact, but everything centers around Randle and the night he’s having. Outside of a major slip against the Magic, the Knicks defense is on-brand from last year. Nerlens Noel could make his debut on Tuesday night, which is huge for a frontcourt dealing with injuries. The Knicks are coming in hungry after an embarrassing loss to the Magic.

Forget Simmons, the Sixers may be without both of their centers come Tuesday night in the Garden. Embiid is a GTD with a knee injury, and Andre Drummond might sit with an ankle injury.

Either one being out changes the dynamic of the game and further weakens the Sixers chances of handing NY their second straight loss. Drummond has been a rebounding force spelling Embiid – averaging 13.5 per-game.

Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks Betting Odds

More Odds | Futures Odds

Odds Provided by BetMGM - Subject to Change

• Sixers +100
• Knicks -120
• Sixers +1 (-110)
• Knicks -1 (-110)
• Over 218.5 (-110)
• Under 218.5 (-110)

Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks Betting Resources

• Matchup: Atlantic
• Date: Tuesday, October 26, 2021
• Venue: Madison Square Garden
• Location: New York, New York
• TV-Time: TNT - 7:30 p.m. ET

• Injury Report

Philadelphia 76ers Betting Analysis

Straight Up - SU, Against the Spread - ATS, Over-Under (O/U)

• SU: 2-1
• ATS: 2-1
• O/U: 1-2
• ATS - Home: 2-0
• ATS - Away: 0-1

Embiid is the heart of the Sixers, but they get a ton of production from Curry andTobias Harris. The team is still trying to figure out who their third major contributor is, but it looks like Curry is in the early lead – averaging just over 20 points per-game.

Harris has been consistent, but the team needs more in a game like this, but he draws a tough defensive matchup in R.J. Barrett. Furkan Korkmaz can light it up but – like Curry – is a major defensive liability.

Maxey is good enough to put offensive pressure on the Knicks guards while slowing down whoever he’s guarding. Unfortunately, the Sixers lack of defensive depth in their backcourt – i.e., not having Simmons – will catch up to them Tuesday.

New York Knicks Betting Analysis

Straight Up - SU, Against the Spread - ATS, Over-Under (O/U)

• SU: 2-1
• ATS: 2-1
• O/U: 3-0
• ATS - Home: 1-0
• ATS - Away: 1-1

The Knicks shot out to a hot 2-0 start only to fall flat on their face against the Magic. But it’s clear what New York is doing is working – on both ends of the floor. Randle is over 28 points but maybe most impressive is his facilitating.

The Knicks star is averaging just over 6 assists per-game – leading the team. Rose is second with 5 APG, but Randle’s awareness of his teammates is on full display. Rose is just under 15 PPG, but new guard Evan Fournier is on a roll with 19 PPG.

Walker is the only sore spot on offense as his minutes have dropped in each of the three games played. He’s split minutes with Rose – who’s scoring balanced out Walker’s dip.

Having Walker seems more like a luxury for the Knicks as he’s not hurting the team, just not what we saw in Boston either. To counter Embiid the Knicks will rely on a couple of bigs – starting with Mitchell Robinson. The Knicks center is tough on the boards with 12 RPG this year.

Philadelphia 76ers guard Seth Curry is averaging 20.3 points per game entering Tuesday night's game against New York. (AP)

Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks Head-to-Head

This is the first time the two teams will tip off as they both compete for first place in the Atlantic Division. They will play three more games against each other with the next one on November 8th in Philadelphia. Both teams are 2-1 this year with the Knicks losing to Orlando and the Sixers losing to Brooklyn.

Key Players to Watch

• PHI: Joel Embiid - C (21 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 5 apg)
• PHI: Tyrese Maxey - PG (16.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3 apg)
• NYK: Julius Randle - PF (28.7 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 6.3 apg)
• NYK: R.J. Barrett - SG (12.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.3 apg)

Injuries

• PHI: Ben Simmons - PG (Out)
• PHI: Joel Embiid - C (DTD)
• PHI: Andre Drummond - C (DTD)
• NYK: Nerlens Noel - C (Out)

Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks Betting Conclusion

There’s no place like home until you drop an ugly one to Orlando in front of your own fans. This is a perfect bounce-back game for New York - who will be tested by the Sixers but are the better team right now.

The Sixers had a major letdown in the fourth last week against Brooklyn, the first time not having a defensive star like Simmons showed to be a problem. The Knicks have too much firepower coming from the backcourt, and the Sixers have too many guys that only do one thing well.

Korkmaz and Curry can score but not defend, while Thybulle can lock someone down but offers nothing on offense. It comes down to star power and Randle is putting up early MVP numbers, meanwhile the Sixers are down one all-star in Simmons and may be without Embiid. Take the Knicks.

Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks Betting Trends

• Philadelphia has won 15 straight games when facing New York.
• Julius Randle has seen 10 or more rebounds in seven of his last eight games.
• Philadelphia has seen the road team cover the spread in six straight games.
• Philadelphia has gone UNDER the point total in six of its last seven games.

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