Monthly Archive 30 April 2024

The Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks will battle in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Sunday. Philadelphia earned its first win of the series in Game 3 with a 125-114 victory on Thursday. The Knicks (50-32), the No. 2 seed in the East, have won eight of their last 10 games. The 76ers (47-35), the No. 7 seed, have won 10 of their last 12 games.

Tip-off from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia is set for 1 p.m. ET. Philadelphia is a 5.5-point favorite in the latest Knicks vs. 76ers odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 209.5. Before making any 76ers vs. Knicks picks, you’ll want to see the NBA predictions and betting advice from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past five-plus seasons. The model enters the second week of the 2024 NBA playoffs on a sizzling 90-58 roll on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning more than $2,800. Anyone following has seen huge returns.

Now, the model has set its sights on Knicks vs. 76ers and just locked in its picks and NBA playoff predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model’s picks. Here are several NBA odds and betting lines for 76ers vs. Knicks:

Knicks vs. 76ers spread: Philadelphia -5.5
Knicks vs. 76ers over/under: 209.5 points
Knicks vs. 76ers money line: New York +169, Philadelphia -204
NY: The Knicks have hit the money line in 50 of their last 79 games (+17.05 units)
PHI: The 76ers have hit the fourth quarter game total over in 48 of their last 80 games (+13.70 units)
Knicks vs. 76ers picks: See picks at SportsLine
Why the 76ers can cover
Center Joel Embiid has dominated the Knicks throughout his career. In 19 career regular-season games, he is 16-3 and is averaging 25.5 points and 10.7 rebounds. Embiid produced a playoff-career-high 50 points on 13-of-19 shooting, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range in Game 3. Embiid became the first player in NBA history with at least 50 points on fewer than 20 shot attempts in a playoff game. His 37.7 points per game in the first round leads the NBA.

Point guard Kyle Lowry has had a solid series so far, averaging 11.7 points, four rebounds, three assists, 1.3 steals and one block in 34.3 minutes. He scored 18 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists in the Game 1 loss at New York. He has reached double-digit scoring in 21 games this season, including the playoffs. Lowry has had a lot of success against the Knicks throughout his career. In 33 games against them, he is averaging 16.6 points, 6.4 assists, five rebounds and 1.6 steals in 32.3 minutes. See which team to pick here.

Why the Knicks can cover
Point guard Jalen Brunson continues to carry the New York offense. In Game 3, he registered his first double-double of the postseason with 39 points and 13 assists in 45 minutes of action. He had 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists in Game 2. He has upped his game during the postseason and in three games, is averaging 28.3 points, 8.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds in 41.7 minutes.

Shooting guard Josh Hart has more than doubled his regular-season scoring average and is a big reason New York leads the series. He has registered two double-doubles in the playoffs, including a 22-point and 13-rebound performance in Game 1. In Game 2, he scored 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. In three playoff games, Hart is averaging 21 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 44.3 minutes. See which team to pick here.

How to make 76ers vs. Knicks picks
SportsLine’s model is leaning Over on the point total, projecting the teams to combine for 219 points. The model also says one side of the spread hits well over 50% of the time. You can only get the model’s pick at SportsLine.

So who wins Knicks vs. 76ers, and which side of the spread hits in well over 50% of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the spread to jump on, all from the advanced model that has returned more than $2,800 on its NBA picks this season, and find out.

Joel Embiid put together a masterful performance Thursday night to carry the Philadelphia 76ers to a win over the New York Knicks in Game 3 of their first-round playoff matchup. The Knicks still hold a 2-1 series advantage, but Embiid’s 50-point outburst gave the Sixers life in this series and showed why he’s the reigning league MVP. But after the game, the attention shifted away from Embiid’s scoring to his face, which had been visibly drooping, while his left eye hadn’t been blinking. Embiid confirmed during the postgame press conference he had been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy last week, dating back to before the Sixers’ play-in game against the Miami Heat.

“It’s pretty annoying. My left side of my face, my mouth and my eye, so yeah, it’s been tough,” Embiid said. “But I’m not a quitter, so I got to keep fighting through anything. It’s unfortunate, that’s the way I look at it. That’s not an excuse, I got to keep pushing.”

Embiid had reportedly been trying to keep the diagnosis under wraps, but after Thursday night’s game, it became difficult to ignore the way it was affecting his face.

What is Bell’s palsy?
Here’s how Johns Hopkins Medicine defines it:

“Bell’s palsy is an unexplained episode of facial muscle weakness or paralysis. It begins suddenly and worsens over 48 hours. This condition results from damage to the facial nerve. Pain and discomfort usually occur on one side of the face or head.”

Embiid has been wearing sunglasses while talking to media, or holding his head down to not show his face, as he was likely trying to avoid attention surrounding it. He said the symptoms started a day or two before the Heat game on April 17, as he was dealing with a bad migraine. According to Johns Hopkins, Bell’s palsy most often occurs in people who have diabetes, the flu, a cold or other respiratory illness, as well as pregnant women. The cause of the paralysis is unknown, but Johns Hopkins says, “It is thought that it may be due to inflammation that is directed by the body’s immune system against the nerve controlling movement of the face.” Bell’s palsy can impact anyone of any age, and while it’s not considered permanent, in rare cases it could remain. However, most people diagnosed with Bell’s palsy end up regaining full strength in their facial muscles.

What are the symptoms of Bell’s palsy?
Embiid is experiencing most of the common symptoms of Bell’s palsy, including loss of feeling in the face, headache and “disordered movement” of the muscles in the face that control smiling, blinking, squinting and closing your eye. But other symptoms, according to Johns Hopkins, are tearing, drooling, loss of taste on the front of your tongue, hypersensitivity to sound in the affected ear, and inability to close your eye on the affected side of your face.

How do you treat Bell’s palsy?
If Bell’s palsy is being caused by something specific, like having the flu or cold, then it would be treated by taking flu or cold medicine. If there isn’t a specific cause, Johns Hopkins says that treatment options include ensuring the impacted eye remains protected with eye drops or an ointment. Antiviral medication can be taken, and so can a steroid that will help with the inflammation. Physical therapy to help stimulate the facial nerves is an option, or applying heat to the affected area to relieve pain.

Bell’s palsy typically resolves over time, and given that Embiid has been able to play for the past week — and drop 50 points on Thursday — it doesn’t appear to be affecting him too severely where it is impacting his game. People impacted by Bell’s palsy often start to recover two weeks to six months after symptoms first started. Since Embiid began experiencing symptoms a couple of days before April 17, he could hopefully be nearing the road to recovery soon.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ injury woes have worsened during their first-round series with the Indiana Pacers. All-Star point guard Damian Lillard has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 Achilles tendon strain and will miss Game 4 on Sunday, the team announced.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has not played since April 9 due to a lingering calf strain.

Late in the fourth quarter of their heartbreaking overtime loss in Game 3, the Bucks were trying to foul to extend the game when Lillard re-aggravated his Achilles. Though it went largely unnoticed in real time, you can see Lillard limping as he goes to pick up Patrick Beverley on the replay. While Lillard remained in the game the rest of the way, he did not take a shot in the extra frame.

After the game, Damian Lillard clarified that his Achilles aggravation occurred on this play at the end of regulation and not on the foul by Pascal Siakam in the first quarter.

(You can see Lillard wince as he goes to pick up Patrick Beverley.) pic.twitter.com/M4nnU43Nqa

— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) April 27, 2024
“Honestly, Dame was really struggling,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said after Game 3. “In the overtime, he literally said, ‘I’ll be the decoy. I just can’t go as far as explosion.’ So I thought Dame just being out there was huge for us.”

Lillard said during his post-game press conference that his “plan” was to play in Game 4.

“I think tonight, it was just so fresh, just re-aggravated after having a whole week where you could kind of get it together,” Lillard said. “But I just wanted to be on the floor in case some opportunity came up, or however I could help. But obviously, tonight, we’re gonna get back and just have to get ahead of it because that’s not something you want to play with.

“It’s one of those spots on your body where you literally can’t do nothing about it. If you can’t move, you can’t move. So we got a couple days, tonight, to start to try to get ahead of it and just get it feeling better, try to get ready for Sunday.”

The Achilles injury wasn’t the only scare during the game for Lillard. Late in the first quarter, he drove to the basket for a tough layup and Pascal Siakam landed on his ankle. Lillard twisted his knee in the process and stayed down on the ground in clear pain before hobbling to the bench and down the tunnel. His stay in the locker room turned out to be brief, however, and he hit some big shots to get the Bucks back in the game. While Lillard said his knee was “a little uncomfortable” the rest of the way, he didn’t feel like he was putting himself in “danger.”

Damian Lillard has limped off the floor.#FearTheDeer #NBA pic.twitter.com/GAWazT6D2D

— Bally Sports Wisconsin (@BallySportWI) April 26, 2024
Lillard sat out of practice for a few days in the lead up to Game 1 of this series in order to address some nagging injuries, including a sore Achilles. Though he admitted he was initially “concerned,” the time off helped him get right and he felt like himself to start the series.

That was evident as he poured in a record-setting 35 points in the first half of Game 1. In the other five halves in this series, though, he has a combined 62 points on 16-of-46 (34.7%) from the field. As a result, the Bucks have dropped Games 2 and 3 and now find themselves down 2-1 in the series.

A hampered Lillard is the last thing the Bucks need in the circumstances. Khris Middleton sprained his ankle in Game 2 but came back and was able to summon the strength for a throwback performance on Friday. It would be asking a lot for him to do that again in Game 4 on a bum ankle. Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, remains out indefinitely.