Tuesday night in the NBA will see the New York Knicks take on the Indiana Pacers. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on MSG. Currently the odds have Indiana favored by 6 points with the total sitting at 191.5 points for the contest.
Free Analysis: So far, no Jeremy Lin has been no problem for the New York Knicks. Lin, who is likely done for the year because of a torn meniscus, has missed the last four games. The Knicks have won three of four in that stretch as Carmelo Anthony has stepped up for both Lin and Amar'e Stoudemire. Still, New York (27-26) has won three of four without its second- and third-leading scorers and nine of 11 overall, including a 91-75 victory over Cleveland on Saturday. The Knicks shot 39.5 percent, but took advantage of 20 Cavaliers turnovers, scoring 28 points while J.R. Smith scored 20 points and Carmelo Anthony added 19. Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 12 rebounds in the win as well. While the Knicks took advantage of the struggling Cavaliers, their upcoming schedule could challenge their depth. Tuesday's game begins a tough five-game stretch, which includes visits to Orlando and the Bucks surrounding a home-and-home series with East-leading Chicago. Without two of their top offensive weapons, the Knicks face additional pressure to keep up their defensive turnaround. Under interim coach Mike Woodson, New York has allowed an average of 86.3 points the last 11 games, compared with 96.5 before that. The Knicks, though, have lost their last two on the road to fall to 9-16 away from Manhattan, and eight of their final 13 games are on the road. Indiana is still fighting for homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs and sits fifth in the East -- one game ahead of Atlanta and just one- half game in back of Orlando for the No. 3 seed. The Pacers have won six of nine games, including a 104-102 overtime victory at Houston on Sunday. Danny Granger scored 32 points and blocked Chandler Parsons' potential game-winner at the buzzer. "Danny made...a heck of a basketball play to block (Chandler) Parsons' shot," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said. Granger went 6 of 8 from 3-point range and also had seven rebounds in his highest-scoring game since Feb. 16. That could bode well against the Knicks, who held him to a combined 20 points on 30.0 percent shooting while beating Indiana twice last month. Darren Collison finished with 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds, while David West chipped in 12 points and Roy Hibbert totaled 15 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who rebounded from a loss at San Antonio. Indiana will play four of five games as the host and is 16-7 at home this season. Indiana will try to salvage a win in the season series with New York tonight and has dropped the first two meetings by at least 14 points. The Knicks have won three straight and six of the last nine matchups with the Pacers, and haven't swept them in a season series since winning all four games in 1993-94.The Pacers have struggled against the line at home recently as Indiana is just 6-12 against the spread in their last 18 home games. The New York Knicks are just 3-8 overall in their last 11 road games.
Free Pick: Gonna go with the Over in this one. The Knicks have really become more of a defensive minded team of late as they have allowed just 85.5 ppg in their last 9 games. The Knicks scoring has been down some as they have averaged just 91.4 ppg in their last 7 games and just 83.4 ppg in their last 3 games on the road. Indiana has struggled some defensively of late as they have allowed 98.6 ppg in their last 5 games, but they still have played great defense at home this year, where they have allowed just 92 ppg. Indiana has averaged 98.8 ppg at home and 97.8 ppg in their last 5 games overall, but I don't see them coming close to number against this defensive team. Neither team will push the pace and both have played good defense this year. I look for a game in the low 180's here.
Free Picks: Sixers at Heat Betting
http://PregameVideos.com - Bad schedule spot for Miami Heat and Sixers playing with triple revenge plus other factors NBA bettors need to know about Sixers at Heat (Tuesday, April 3, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Stephen Nover and analysis from host Marco D'Angelo.