Although the plot of the Knicks and Cavaliers series will revolve around Mitchell, we start our betting card with a Knicks player who really stepped up to the plate down the stretch, 3rd-year guard, Immanuel Quickley.
Pick #1: Immanuel Quickley Over 15.5 Points
Put your money down on Quickley exceeding his projected point totals for as long as sportsbooks underestimate him. With Jalen Brunson missing several games late in the season, Quickley proved he can shoulder a lot of the scoring load for the Knickerbockers.
In his final eight regular-season games, the Kentucky product averaged 27.3 points per game, falling under 16 points just once. We should point out, that one game was against the Cleveland Cavaliers who boast the best defense in the NBA.
Knicks’ Immanuel Quickley is a nominee for the Sixth Man award:
Ian Begley (@IanBegley)
Nevertheless, he just fell short of the projected point total of 15.5 in that one, dumping in 14. Tom Thibodeau has grown to trust Quickley more and more throughout the season and with Julius Randle questionable for Game 1, Quickley should get a lot of touches and chances to score the ball.
Pick: Immanuel Quickley Over 15.5 Points (-118)
Pick #2: James Harden Over 9.5 Assists
Known for his prodigious scoring exploits during his time with the Rockets, James Harden has evolved into more of a distributor as the years have gone by. With 10.7 dimes per game, The Beard led the league in assists this season for the 2nd time in his career.
Although it s a completely different Brooklyn squad from the one he got traded from over a year ago, we re betting Harden will be extra motivated to stick it to the franchise throughout this series, starting in Game 1. He ripped the Nets for having no structure after he left and will have his tank filled up and ready to go in this one.
James Harden is now the first player in NBA history with 3 scoring titles AND 2 assist titles, per
Legendary 🔥
NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral)
Having access to the favorite in the and league scoring leader in Joel Embiid will also help Harden pad his assist totals against a Nets squad that traded the other two members of their Big 3 this season.
Pick: James Harden Over 9.5 Assists (-150)
Pick #3: De Aaron Fox Under 26.5 Points
Despite finishing 3rd in the Western Conference, the Sacramento Kings are getting no respect in the sitting at +5000 to win it all, while their first-round opponent, the sixth-seeded Warriors are at +850 to repeat.
It will be the first playoff appearance for De Aaron Fox who is now in his 6th season. The left-handed shooting guard averaged 25 points per game this season but slowed down over the last few weeks of the season. He didn t hit the 30-point mark once in his final nine games and fell below 27 points in six of those contests.
The Warriors will have Andrew Wiggins back for Game 1 of the playoffs and since his offense might be slow to come around, expect Steve Kerr to deploy him for some time on Fox. Combine that with the nerves that will come with the guard s first taste of playoff action, and our prediction is that he comes up light in the points department.
Pick: DeAaron Fox Under 26.5 Points (-108)
