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New York Knicks vs Indiana Pacers NBA Picks, Odds, Predictions 10/5/21

Indiana Pacers vs New York Knicks
October 5, 2021 7:30 pm EDT
The Line: New York Knicks / Indiana Pacers
(Get latest betting odds)

The Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks meet Tuesday in NBA preseason action at Madison Square Garden. The Indiana Pacers are coming off a 34-win season and will begin the coaching debut of Rick Carlisle. The New York Knicks are fresh off 41 wins and their first playoff appearance since the 2012-13 season.

The Indiana Pacers have the pieces in place to be a legit playoff team in the East, but health is key for this franchise. Caris LeVert and TJ Warren remain banged up from last year and aren’t expected to be ready to go in these exhibition games. Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner have battled their injuries the last couple of seasons as well, but they appear to be healthy entering camp. If all of those guys can stay on the court and you mix in Malcolm Brogdon, the Pacers have the ability to make some noise in the East. Heck, even Jeremy Lamb has struggled with injuries these last two seasons and hopes to get back to where he was with the Charlotte Hornets a few years ago. The Pacers have the players and the coach, it’s just a matter of staying on the court. 

The New York Knicks have their core in place with RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Obi Toppin that they’ll continue to build around. Kemba Walker returns home to New York and provides a spark at point guard, while Evan Fournier slides into the shooting guard spot. Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley are there for the guard depth and Nerlens Noel remains one of the more underrated bigs in the league. The Knicks have an interesting roster and a proven head coach in Tom Thibodeau that should once again push for a playoff spot in the East. However, there still feels like there’s a cap on just how far the Knicks can go in the postseason due to a lack of top level talent. 

The Indiana Pacers are probably the better team on paper, but they’re still loaded with injuries and have yet to field a healthy roster. It’s hard to trust the Pacers, even in the preseason, until they get healthy. The New York Knicks should have a packed house after making the postseason last year and they have a lot of young players who are still trying to prove themselves and earn consistent playing time. Thibodeau is also a coach who plays guys into the ground and doesn’t mind playing high level players in meaningless games.

Give me the Knicks.

Randy Chambers's Free Pick: New York Knicks ATS

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Randy Chambers

Randy has covered sports betting since 2014 and writes about everything from NFL to WNBA. Follow Randy Chambers on Twitter.

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