Turn off Seventh Ave and prepare to welcome the Pat Riley group; The New York Knickerbockers are in favor of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.
But Tom Thibodeau’s crew wouldn’t accept their rings.
They’ll go to Madison Square Garden for a raucous Game 1 on Sunday at 1 p.m., in a series where they’ll have the home court advantage.
BetMGM is showing a lot of respect to the Knicks in this series, who come off as -145 favorites against the Heat at +120.
Make no mistake, though.
We’re looking at probably a long chain, and heat will be a lot of a threat.
FanDuel has laid out odds on how long the series will run, with six games coming at +195 and seven games likely at +180.
The story of the tape couldn’t be more different between these two teams during the NBA Playoffs.
The Knicks feature the league’s best net defensive rating (101.9) during the playoffs, while Jimmy Butler’s Bunch features the second best net offensive rating (119).
The Heat shot an incredible 45 percent from the floor with 3-pointers 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 Seats would likely decide the series, as the Heat scored 39 points per game, the best during the playoffs.
The Knicks also exhibit a solid bench, scoring the fifth most bench points per game (29).
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The extra possessions are essential to the Knicks’ mostly ineffective offense.
They’ve captured 15 offensive boards per game in the playoffs (the most), and the Heat have really struggled to break the offensive glass (7.4 per game, second fewest).
The Knicks, who will win in seven games, comes in at +340 on FanDuel.
And Knicks fans deserve a few extra points for the spread of any game played in Mecca, especially Game 7.
New York feature.
