New York Knicks vs Indiana Pacers 12/4/2017 Odds, Picks & Preview

The NEW YORK and the INDIANA will both be gunning for a victory on 12/4/2017 at 7:05 PM when they meet in a game matchup.

NEW YORK vs INDIANA
When: 7:00 PM  ET, Monday, December 4, 2017
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana

TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), FSN Indiana
LINE:
PREDICTION: Pacers 112, Knicks 100

Oddsmakers currently have the INDIANA listed as point favorites versus the NEW YORK, while the game’s total is sitting at .

INDIANAPOLIS — The New York Knicks will be short-handed again Monday night.

The question is whether the Indiana Pacers (12-11) be able to take advantage when they host the Knicks (11-11).

New York played without its two top scorers, Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr., in a 105-100 loss to the visiting Orlando Magic on Sunday.

ABOUT THE PACERS (12-11): Center Myles Turner has been bothered by a sore knee, but is still averaging 17.3 points over the last four games and is expected to be in the lineup against the Knicks. “I’ve got two days to recover, it’s a bruise, swelling wasn’t an issue,” Turner told the Indianapolis Star on Friday. “I pretty much knew I was going to play. It’s going to take way more than that to keep me out.” Bojan Bogdanovic (14.8 points) hopes to recover from a 2-for-11 shooting performance against Toronto and Domantas Sabonis (12.5 points, 8.7 rebounds) was 4-for-14 in the last two.

Porzingis was ruled out with an ankle sprain and an illness approximately an hour before the game started. Porzingis sustained the injury in the first quarter against the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.

Hardaway is sidelined due to a left leg injury. Porzingis is averaging 25.8 points and Hardaway 17.8 points.

Porzingis and Hardaway were not traveling to Indiana, Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said after the game.

Michael Beasley, who was averaging 7.1 points, started in Porzingis’ place Sunday and scored 21 points in 28 minutes. Damyean Dotson, making his first career start, replaced Hardaway and scored just two points on 1-of-3 shooting.

Hornacek dismissed any notion that Porzingis may not be physically able to play 75-plus games a season.

“He’s still young,” Hornacek said before the Sunday game. “He is 7-foot-3 and there are going to be times he has bumps and bruises and stuff like that. It was kind of a pride thing back in the day to play all 82. They’re spreading games out, eliminating four games in five nights.”

Porzingis said he will come back when he’s 100 percent.

“It’s not a thing that I should force now and maybe backfire,” he said.

Rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina was able to return for New York on Sunday, and he scored nine points in 16 minutes. He missed the Wednesday game because of a sprained left ankle.

ABOUT THE KNICKS (11-11): Forward Michael Beasley scored 21 in the 105-100 loss to the Magic on Sunday – his second-highest total of the season – and Enes Kanter registered 18 points and 16 rebounds for his second straight double-double after missing the previous three games with injury. Courtney Lee added 19 points in the loss and is averaging 18.6 in his last five games while Lance Thomas came off the bench to score a season-high 11. The good news Sunday was rookie Frank Ntilikina returning to the lineup after missing just one game with an ankle injury and contributing nine points in 16 minutes.

The Monday contest will start a six-game homestand for the Pacers, who dropped their past two games on the road to Houston and Toronto.

The Raptors beat the Pacers 120-115 Friday night.

“We just didn’t make any shots,” Pacers guard Victor Oladipo said. “They did a great job of playing on both ends obviously. They did a great job of moving the ball, so credit them for that. It was a tough loss, we have to learn from it. We have a home stretch coming up that’s going to be huge for us, so we have to be ready to play.”

Oladipo scored a season-high 36 on 14-of-22 shooting at Toronto.

Pacers coach Nate McMillan didn’t see much to like on either end.

“I didn’t think we played the game the right way,” McMillan said. “I thought offensively we didn’t have the ball movement. I thought we were taking some tough shots. I thought our mind was more on the offensive end before getting our shots, getting involved on the offensive end as opposed to focusing on defending, getting stops and working together.”

The Pacers lost to host New York 108-101 in the teams’ first meeting of the season on Nov. 5. Indiana was in control much of the game, leading by as many as 19 points, before the Knicks rallied. Porzingis scored a career-high 40 for the Knicks, who had a 36-17 edge in the fourth quarter.

“They were the aggressors and wanted it a little bit more,” McMillan said.

After losing seven in a row to Indiana, the Knicks have won four of the past five regular-season games in the series.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. New York’s rookie SG Damyean Dotson made his first start Sunday in Hardaway’s spot and scored two points in 22 minutes.

2. The Knicks have won the last three meetings, including a 109-103 win at Indiana last January.

3. Pacers PF Thaddeus Young is averaging 17.5 points on 17-of-28 from the field in his last two contests.

PREDICTION: Pacers 112, Knicks 100

STATS AND RECORDS

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