Indiana Pacers (14-23) vs. New York Knicks (17-20)
January 4, 2022 7:30 pm EDT
The Line: New York Knicks -1.5; Over/Under: -208.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Indiana Pacers invade Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks on Tuesday night.
The Indiana Pacers have been in a real slump as they’ve lost seven of their past nine games overall and they will be hoping to snap a four-game slide after falling short to the Cavaliers in a 108-104 road loss on Sunday. Domantas Sabonis led the team with 32 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, Duane Washington Jr. added 20 points while Justin Holiday drained six 3-pointers on his way to 18 points. As a team, the Pacers shot 44 percent from the field and 19 of 47 from the 3-point line as they squandered an early 11-point lead, before coming up just short in the fourth quarter where the Cavaliers used a decisive 9-2 run to steal the game from them. The bench combined for just 12 points as Lance Stephenson scored six points while Torrey Craig finished scoreless on zero of five shooting.
Meanwhile, the New York Knicks have been in a rut as they’ve lost eight of their past 13 games overall and they will be hoping to stop a two-game skid after getting routed by the Raptors in a 120-105 road loss on Sunday. Evan Fournier led the team with 20 points, RJ Barrett and Obi Toppin each scored 19 points while Quentin Grimes chipped in with 13 points off the bench. As a team, the Knicks shot 44 percent from the field and 12 of 36 from the 3-point line as they struggled to keep up right from the start, falling behind by 13 points at halftime, before allowing 40 points in the third quarter to trail by as many as 25 points.
Looking at the betting trends, the Pacers are 0-3-1 ATS in their last four road games, 3-1-1 ATS in their last five games as an underdog and 2-5-1 ATS in their last eight games overall. The Knicks are 2-6 ATS in their last eight home games and 6-2 ATS in their last eight games as a favorite.
Head to head, the under is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings overall and the Pacers are 6-14 ATS in the last 20 meetings in New York.
The Pacers will be shorthanded once again as they will be without Isaiah Jackson., TJ Warren or Caris LeVert, while the Knicks are again without Kemba Walker and Julius Randle but Mitchell Robinson could return after clearing the league health and safety protocols. The Pacers have enough talent on their roster to get the win against the depleted Knicks, but they haven’t been able to build any momentum despite players like Sabonis continuing to put up big performances. The Knicks are dealing with more players sitting out, but I think they get the job done in a close one.
