Knicks vs. 76ers NBA Best Bets for March 2 (Archive)
The slumping New York Knicks head to Philadelphia to take on the new-look Sixers. The Sixers have played fantastically since adding James Harden. They will be heavily favored by NBA odds tonight, but are they the right NBA pick?
New York Knicks vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Wednesday, March 2, 2022 – 07:30 PM EST at Wells Fargo Center
New York Knicks
When the schedule was made last summer, you have to think that the NBA expected that this was going to be must-see TV. The Philadelphia 76ers have definitely held up their end of the bargain and are one of the top teams in the East. The New York Knicks, however, have fallen flat on their face and returned to being below mediocre. Barring a late-season resurgence, the Knicks are headed back to the lottery.
New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau came into the team last year and supposedly changed the culture. Many, such as myself decried the hire, saying that "Thibs" was past his prime. Last season we were forced to eat our words as Thibodeau led the team to the fourth seed, before losing to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round.
This season, however, many of our original criticisms have come to pass. It just took over a season before Tom Thibodeau's old flaws were newly revealed.
Tom Thibodeau is an old-school coach who preaches defense and loves to rely on veteran players that he trusts. The first half of the equation is great.
Defense is necessary to win and probably an overlooked part of the NBA. I definitely use this to my advantage when it comes to handicapping, as so many NBA fans and handicappers only look at what a player can do when they are on offense. But defense still wins and is important.
The second half of Thibodeau's philosophy is where he is failing as head coach of the Knicks. Thibodeau is not much for player development, and with all the young talent on the Knicks, Thibodeau is definitely failing his team and his organization by running out mediocre veterans rather than developing young talent that Knicks GM Scott Perry has acquired.
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This eschewing of younger players for his favorite vets will probably lead to Thibodeau's firing this offseason.
The Knicks are 1-9 in their last 10 games and have lost 5 games in a row. They are 12-17 on the road this season. At 25-36 on the year, they are four games out of the 10th seed with 21 games left to play. At this point, the Knicks should be going all-in with younger players such as Obi Toppin and Cam Reddish.
But yet the Knicks will still trot out their veteran players rather than let their young players get valuable playing time and experience.
You have to feel for Knicks fans who thought that this team had turned things around. Once again, they will be back to the drawing board this offseason, albeit with some players to build around such as RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, and Cam Reddish.
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the New York Knicks on Sunday in New York. The new pairing of Joel Embiid and James Harden looks to be everything that 76ers fans had hoped for. Joel Embiid scored 37 points and James Harden had a triple-double in the win.
The duo of James Harden and Joel Embiid has played two games together and has won two games. The 76ers have won by an average of 24.5 points in the two games that their new dynamic duo played together.
The game in New York definitely took a long time to play because of the number of fouls in the game. The teams committed 50 fouls between them. Philadelphia was 39-44 on free throws and the Knicks were 22-35. It will be interesting to see if the refs are as whistle happy in the game tonight.
With Harden's addition, the 76ers are now true championship contenders. However, both Harden and Embiid have had problems closing out games late in playoff series. This regular-season success is definitely encouraging, but both men know that they will be judged for how they perform in the playoffs.
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Beating up on a team such as the struggling Knicks is all fine and dandy, but the 76ers definitely need to be focused on preparing for the NBA's best. The Sixers will need to avoid playing sloppy and falling into bad habits against the weaker teams. They need to use games such as tonight to really dial-in effective habits and develop chemistry between Harden and his new teammates.
Joel Embiid vs. New York Knicks Centers
In the last game, Joel Embiid fouled out both of the centers on the Knicks and forced Tom Thibodeau to go small. They then switched to the pick-and-roll attack against smaller defenders. This one-two punch was too much for the Knicks and their centers tonight will have to be very mindful not to commit fouls because they cannot help their team from the bench.
Joel Embiid will, of course, try to foul out both centers again so he can work against much smaller men. If the New York Knicks centers are able to play solid defense and stay in the game, the Knicks have a much better chance of covering the NBA odds. If Joel Embiid can put the Sixers centers on the bench due to their foul troubles, the Sixers will roll with another large margin of victory.
Best Bet
As good as Philadelphia is playing, I like the Knicks to cover the double digits of NBA odds tonight. We saw the Nets bounce back and cover after a blowout loss at home and I believe their NYC counterparts can do the same. I believe the refs will be more conservative with their whistle and allow the Knicks centers to stay in the game. Today’s Play of the Day is the New York Knicks +10.5.
NBA Pick: New York Knicks +10.5 (-110) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.