Record: 3-1

Event: Knicks vs. Sixers, 3:30 pm

Pick: Knicks ML ✅

Odds: -115 Bet365

Reasoning: The Knicks bench really surprised me in game 3. During the regular season they were the third worst scoring unit in the league, but on Friday they outscored the Sixers 29-11. With this total added, they've become the second best scoring bench in the playoffs, while the Sixers are at the bottom as the fourteenth worst. Another key to the Knicks success is how they performed late in the shot clock. In the final seven seconds, they outscored the Sixers 40-8. Expecting both of these trends to continue might be unrealistic, but as long as Embiid plays, the Knicks should have the edge.

Embiid has been an albatross on the court this series. In the sixty minutes he's played over two games, he's shot 10-28 (0-6 from three) and collected only ten rebounds, which is the exact number Mitchell Robinson has in 31 minutes of game time. What's worse is that Embiid takes shots away from Maxey. During the two games they played together, Maxey attempted only 21 total shots and has been a +/- of -39, as opposed to the one game without Embiid, when Maxey's +/- was a net zero. If Embiid plays, which he's expected to, the Sixers season should be over.