Knicks vs. Hornets prediction: NBA odds, pick, best bets Wednesday night

Emirates NBA Cup group play concludes this week with games on Wednesday and Friday.

Teams will be jockeying for position in the standings and a chance to make a trip to Las Vegas and win an extra $500K per player on the winning Cup team. The Knicks head to Charlotte for a game against the Hornets on their colorful NBA Cup court as they finish up a five-game road trip.

We’re nearly one-fifth of the way through the season, which is just enough time to judge whether teams are living up to their preseason expectations.

For the Knicks, the expectations were clear: end the season as the Eastern Conference representative in the NBA Finals. That goal is up in the air right now as the team sorts through various injuries and searches to find its identity. Sure, it’s nice to see them move the ball more compared to last season, but it’s still not entirely clear what this team is and whether it’s better than the version we saw last season.

Lucky for the orange and blue, the Hornets know that they are a lottery team and haven’t wasted anyone’s time figuring that out.

Knicks vs. Hornets prediction

(7 p.m. ET)

LaMelo Ball has already missed seven of Charlotte’s 17 games, and Brandon Miller has played just three games so far. Veterans Collin Sexton and Miles Bridges are talented, but they make no sense for this team. Their one bright spot has been Kon Knueppel, who leads all rookies in scoring with 19.4 points per game.

The Knicks will be favorites on the road, but I’m hesitant to play the spread. I think the more valuable play is on the Over/Under.

The Hornets have the 24th-ranked defensive unit in the NBA, allowing 120.7 per 100 possessions this season. It has been even worse over the past two weeks (122.9 per 100) during their 1-6 stretch over that span.

The Knicks have also been vulnerable on defense since OG Anunoby went down with a hamstring injury. They have allowed 119.1 points per 100 since losing their best defender, then lost Landry Shamet, who was filling in admirably as a 3-and-D wing. They seem content to give up buckets, knowing that they can make it up on offense with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns leading the way night-to-night.

Lastly, this is an NBA Cup game, which incentivizes scoring. The Knicks are 1-1 in the Cup standings and will need wins against the Hornets and Bucks — ideally some lopsided wins — to hold off the Heat.

Knicks games have gone over 10 times in 16 contests, and given the state of these two defenses right now, I think we’ll see this one hit the over, too.

The Play: Over 236.5 (-110, DraftKings)

Why Trust New York Post Betting

Malik Smith has been immersed in the sports betting industry since 2017. He’s a data nerd with a particular focus on the NBA and combat sports. He spends his weeknights in the winter looking for edges on plus-money NBA player props.