Knicks vs Pelicans Game Breakdown

Hold onto your jerseys, sports fans! Tonight’s NBA Playoff clash is a true David vs. Goliath matchup as the soaring New York Knicks swoop into the Smoothie King Center to face off against the struggling New Orleans Pelicans. With the Knicks riding high from a dominant recent victory and the Pelicans licking their wounds after a tough loss, the stakes are as spicy as a bowl of gumbo. As the clock ticks down to a 09:00PM EST tipoff, all eyes will be on whether the Knicks can continue their march or if the Pelicans can stage an upset that would send shockwaves through the standings. So, as the betting lines dance and the points pile up, let’s see if the Knicks can keep slicing through the competition or if the Pelicans will finally spread their wings!

Game Breakdown

Game Time: December 21, 2024 09:00PM EST

Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans

Vegas Odds

	NYK ML	NOP ML	Over/Under	Line
Open	-330	+265	226.0	-8.0/8.0
Recent	-320	+260	223.5	-8.0/8.0
Difference	+10	-5	-2.5	–

Team Performance

LAST 10

8W-2L

AWAY

32W-22L

76.2% Win Probability

LAST 10

1W-9L

HOME

24W-24L

23.8% Win Probability

Previous Matchups

Date		Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final	O/U
12/01/24	New Orleans Pelicans NOP	10	18	28	29	85	Under
12/01/24	New York Knicks NYK	33	24	36	25	118	Under
02/27/24	New Orleans Pelicans NOP	26	22	26	41	115	Under
02/27/24	New York Knicks NYK	19	28	20	25	92	Under
10/28/23	New York Knicks NYK	12	25	31	19	87	Under
10/28/23	New Orleans Pelicans NOP	26	29	22	19	96	Under
04/07/23	New York Knicks NYK	30	30	23	22	105	Under
04/07/23	New Orleans Pelicans NOP	27	33	23	30	113	Under
02/25/23	New Orleans Pelicans NOP	26	26	30	24	106	Over
02/25/23	New York Knicks NYK	42	31	29	26	128	Over
01/20/22	New Orleans Pelicans NOP	27	19	35	21	102	Under
01/20/22	New York Knicks NYK	17	25	15	34	91	Under
10/30/21	New York Knicks NYK	34	29	25	35	123	Over
10/30/21	New Orleans Pelicans NOP	28	31	24	34	117	Over

Knicks Vs Over/Under

Pelicans Vs Over/Under

Knicks Recent Games

Date	vsOpp	Result	Reb	Ast	Tov	Shots
12/19	vs MIN	133-107W	57	39	15	97
12/15	vs ORL	100-91W	45	20	17	71
12/11	@ ATL	100-108L	49	27	12	93
12/09	vs TOR	113-108W	40	32	10	82
12/07	@ DET	111-120L	31	27	15	79
12/05	@ CHA	125-101W	43	29	9	76
12/03	@ ORL	121-106W	39	30	17	85
12/01	@ NOP	118-85W	60	30	17	92
11/29	vs CHA	99-98W	44	20	19	81
11/25	vs DEN	145-118W	43	45	9	92

Pelicans Recent Games

Date	vsOpp	Result	Reb	Ast	Tov	Shots
12/19	vs HOU	113-133L	37	25	12	92
12/15	vs IND	104-119L	49	18	18	97
12/12	@ SAC	109-111L	43	22	17	83
12/08	vs SAS	116-121L	43	26	8	99
12/07	@ OKL	109-119L	35	25	18	79
12/05	@ PHX	126-124W	44	23	13	95
12/02	vs ATL	112-124L	41	21	16	100
12/01	vs NYK	85-118L	42	20	14	94
11/29	vs MEM	109-120L	46	16	14	91
11/25	vs IND	110-114L	44	35	15	87

Starting Lineups

New York Knicks	Proj	L5	L15	S%	S/DFS
OG Anunoby PF	29.0	28.3	31.2	100%	31.6
Mikal Bridges SG	29.0	34.1	29.1	100%	29.5
Jalen Brunson PG	41.0	40.7	40.1	100%	40.5
Josh Hart SF	38.0	34.6	35.4	100%	35.7
Karl-Anthony Towns C	51.0	60.3	47.8	100%	48.1

New Orleans Pelicans	Proj	L5	L15	S%	S/DFS
Herbert Jones SF	28.0	29.2	24.1	100%	24.5
CJ McCollum SG	38.0	34.3	39.4	100%	39.7
Yves Missi C	31.0	29.4	25.0	76%	25.9
Trey Murphy III PF	37.0	35.7	32.6	93%	33.3
Dejounte Murray PG	47.0	43.0	45.7	100%	46.1

Knicks Notable Injuries

Matt Ryan (SG/SF): Avg: 4.5pts, 1.2reb, 0.5ast, 11.8 minutes. Last game: 12/19/24. Impact: 0.4
Tyler Kolek (PG): Avg: 2.7pts, 0.8reb, 0.7ast, 6.6 minutes. Last game: 12/19/24. Impact: 0.8

Pelicans Notable Injuries

Brandon Ingram (PG): Avg: 20.8pts, 5.2reb, 5.5ast, 33.2 minutes. Last game: 12/07/24. Impact: 6.2
Jamal Cain (SF): Avg: 4.1pts, 1.9reb, 0.5ast, 11.7 minutes. Last game: 12/15/24. Impact: 1.9
Antonio Reeves (SG/SF): Avg: 4.8pts, 1.2reb, 0.5ast, 10.1 minutes. Last game: 12/19/24. Impact: 1.5

Top Player Props

This article, published more than 6 hours prior to game time, focuses exclusively on Over prop bets due to the propensity for NBA teams to make last-minute injury adjustments. For the most current prop bets, including any updates closer to tip-off, please refer to the link provided below the table.

		Stat				Over %				Opposing Defense/Game
Player	Team	Prop	Line	Proj	Diff	L5	L10	L15	L30	Opp	Stat	Rank
Dejounte Murray	NOP	Pts	19.5	23.5	+4.0	40%	30%	33%	33%	NYK	-0.5	#11
Trey Murphy III	NOP	Pts	16.5	19.4	+2.9	60%	60%	60%	60%	NYK	-0.9	#10
Josh Hart	NYK	Reb	7.5	10.4	+2.9	40%	40%	53%	53%	NOP	+0.5	#25
CJ McCollum	NOP	Reb	3.5	4.4	+0.9	60%	60%	60%	60%	NYK	-0.5	#8
Mikal Bridges	NYK	Ast	2.5	3.1	+0.6	60%	60%	60%	60%	NOP	-0.3	#10

View All Player Prop Projections

Knicks Defense vs

Position	Pts	Reb	Ast	Overall	vs NBA
C	#2	#5	#11	#2	-13.6%
PF	#20	#7	#16	#9	-2.1%
PG	#11	#6	#25	#13	-0.1%
SF	#21	#16	#3	#14	-0.8%
SG	#10	#8	#14	#8	-6.4%

Pelicans Defense vs

Position	Pts	Reb	Ast	Overall	vs NBA
C	#26	#30	#10	#28	9.5%
PF	#23	#24	#23	#26	6.3%
PG	#17	#21	#30	#27	7.3%
SF	#25	#14	#10	#20	4.3%
SG	#16	#25	#19	#19	3.3%

Team Comparison

Points per Game

117.9

106.0

Rebounds per Game

43.5

43.2

Assists per Game

28.8

23.5

Steals per Game

7.4

9.3

Blocks per Game

4.5

5.3

Shots per Game

86.9

89.5

3-Pointers Made per Game

14.8

11.0

2-Pt Percentage per Game

57.9

49.9

3-Pt Percentage per Game

40.1

33.5

Turnovers per Game

12.4

14.4

Fouls per Game

17.3

18.5

Recent Trends

Jamal Cain (SF): 3 Game Minutes avg dropped 41.7% to 11.1, 19.1 min average previous 3 games.
Javonte Green (SF/PF): 3 Game Minutes avg dropped 38.7% to 13.3, 21.8 min average previous 3 games.
Jordan Hawkins (PG/SG): 3 Game Minutes avg dropped 36.5% to 18.3, 28.8 min average previous 3 games.