Knicks vs. 76ers Game 4 Best Bets Featuring Jalen Brunson, More

The Knicks’ most recent victory in Game 3 on Friday night was particularly noteworthy in that it came without the services of star forward OG Anunoby, who sat out due to a hamstring injury that also has him listed as questionable for Sunday’s Game 4.

Anunoby was averaging 21.4 points (on 61.9% shooting, including 53.8% from long distance), 7.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.1 blocks across 35.3 minutes per contest in the first eight postseason games, so his absence certainly had the potential to disrupt New York’s attempt to match the intensity of the 76ers on the road.

What ultimately turned out to be a relatively comfortable victory naturally should give Mike Brown’s squad plenty of confidence coming into Sunday, but the 76ers are even more desperate than they were Friday. Oddsmakers are acknowledging as much by making the Knicks a slim 1.5-point favorite.

Consequently, we’re going to take advantage of FanDuel’s Alt. Spread feature to afford ourselves a bit more safety and actually give New York four points to work with for our first leg.

Per Team Rankings, the Knicks have a +4.4-point average scoring margin on the road and the Sixers have a -1.6-point figure at home since the start of the regular season, a revised spread of Knicks +4.5 feels comfortable enough, even if Anunoby misses.

Our second leg focuses on the visitors’ most dynamic offensive weapon, that being Brunson. The three-time All-Star has been outstanding over the first three games, averaging 39.6 points + rebounds + assists while shooting 52.5%.

Brunson had also averaged 36.6 points + rebounds + assists over 36.0 minutes per contest in the first five games of the first-round series against the Hawks, so his current run is certainly legitimate.

Brunson’s body of work thus far in the playoffs and the fact he also put up 39.3 points + rebounds + assists while shooting 39.1% from long distance over his first three regular-season meetings with Philadelphia are certainly also encouraging.

Therefore, the Alt. figure of 31.5 points + rebounds + assists a very reasonable one for him to surpass while facing a Sixers squad that’s allowing 54.8% shooting over the last three games, per Team Rankings.

For our third and final leg, we’ll turn to the other side and Brunson’s counterpart, Maxey.

The 2020 first-round pick has had an uneven first three games after a stellar first-round series against the Celtics, when he furnished 38.4 points + rebounds + assists across 41.0 minutes per contest while shooting 41.8% from long distance. The efficiency, especially from downtown, has admittedly taken a hit against the Knicks, shooting only 16.7% from three-point range.

Nevertheless, Maxey should see his usage skyrocket with the 76ers’ season hanging in the balance. He’s averaging a relatively modest 14.7 shots per game over the first three contests against New York, but he’d put up 21.6 per contest in the first round versus Boston.

Additionally, Maxey thrived against the Knicks during the regular season, averaging 39.1 points + rebounds + assists across 36.3 minutes per contest in four games. Maxey shot 51.2%, including 50.0% from three-point range, in that four-game regular-season sample, so the potential for improvement over his current form is certainly there.

Maxey was one point, assist or rebound short from going 4-0 to the Alt. Total of 31.5 points + rebounds + assists prop during the campaign and also easily surpassed it in Game 2 of this series, so the Over on that figure puts a bow on our parlay.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com