Shut down Seventh Ave and prepare to welcome Pat Riley’s group; the New York Knickerbockers are favored to make the Eastern Conference Finals.
But Tom Thibodeau’s crew won’t kiss their rings.
They will waltz into Madison Square Garden for a raucous Game 1 on Sunday at 1 p.m., in a series where they will have a home-court advantage.
BetMGM is showing plenty of respect for the Knicks in this series, who are coming in as -145 favorites against the Heat at +120.
Make no mistake, though.
We are looking at what will likely be a long series, and the Heat will pose plenty of threat.
FanDuel has put odds on how long the series will go, with six games coming in at +195 and seven games the most likely at +180.
The tale of the tape couldn’t be more different between these two teams during these NBA playoffs.
The Knicks feature the league’s best net defensive rating (101.9) during the playoffs, while Jimmy Butler’s Bunch feature the second-best net offensive rating (119).
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The Heat shot an unbelievable 45 percent from 3-point land against the Milwaukee Bucks, five percentage points higher than the next-best team, while the Knicks shot the worst 3-point percentage of any team in the first round (28.2 percent).
The benches will likely decide the series, though, as the Heat bench scored 39 points per game, the best during the playoffs.
The Knicks also showcase a solid bench, scoring the fifth most bench points per game (29).
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Extra possessions are essential for the Knicks’ mostly inefficient offense.
They grabbed 15 offensive boards per playoff game (most), and the Heat really struggled to crash the offensive glass (7.4 per game, second fewest).
The Knicks to win in seven comes in at +340 on FanDuel.
And Knicks fans are easily worth a few extra points to the spread for any game played in The Mecca, especially a Game 7.
Advantage New York.
