After ending January with eight straight wins, the New York Knicks look to start February on a high note with an intriguing Eastern Conference battle against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Celtics still lead the Atlantic Division, but the Knicks moved ahead of the struggling 76ers for second place.
New York started 17-15 in January, but finished the month with a 14-2 record and emerged as the third seed in Eastern Conference playoff contention.
Not coincidentally, the path to victory coincided with the acquisition of OG Anunoby, who came to New York in a trade with Toronto along with Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn in late December for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.
Knicks vs Pacers prediction
(7:30 p.m. ET, MSG)
The Knicks ended 2023 with a 140-126 loss to Indiana, trailing by four points, but they didn’t have trade pieces in place at that point and were severely lacking in talent.
Pacers All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton had 22 points and 23 assists, while Donte DiVincenzo (38 points), Jalen Brunson (28 points) and Julius Randle (28 points) led the Knicks with 126 points. He scored 96 points.
The Knicks continue to play without Randle due to a right shoulder injury, and Randle is expected to be out for several weeks, but New York passed Charlotte and Utah in the last two games without Randle.
In Tuesday’s 118-103 win over the Jazz, the backcourt duo of DiVincenzo and Brunson combined for 62 points for their sixth straight home win.
The Pacers lost 129-124 to Boston on Tuesday, ending their winning streak at three, but trailing by nine points.
Haliburton, who had missed 13 games with a hamstring injury, was held to 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the floor in 22 minutes. Due to minutes restrictions, he left the game midway through the third quarter and did not return.
The addition of Pascal Siakam (23 points vs. Boston) and improved play from Aaron Nesmith (26 points) and point guard Andrew Nembhard (16 points) have eased the scoring and playmaking burden for the Pacers. , protecting you from another setback. their star.
The Pacers have a solid record of 9-2-2 while playing the underdog role over the past 13 games. However, we’ll see how long Haliburton plays with Indiana managing his playing time.
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The Knicks haven’t given up more than 109 points in 10 consecutive games since losing 128 points to the Mavericks on Jan. 11.
But during that time, only one opponent has averaged more than 115 points per game: Utah, which ranks 11th with 117.5 points.
The Pacers, who top the list with 124.5 points per game, will have a new challenge Thursday night.
However, the Knicks have held their opponents to 125 points or less this season with a record of 28 wins, 11 losses, and 1 draw, and have been particularly strong defensively, so it will be difficult to match them with this strong winning streak.
Pick: Knicks -2.5 (-110, bet 365)
