Free Pick | Friday | NBA | Oct. 25

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#538 New York Knicks -4.5 over Indiana Pacers 6:40 PM CT

The Pacers didn’t impress in the season opener, needing a big 4th quarter rally to get by the Pistons. The outside shooting was poor and the defense marginal. James Wiseman suffered a major injury to damage the front court depth for the Pacers who had to have three starters play 35 minutes in the opener. Indiana took 31 3-point attempts but hit just 29 percent and on the road were handed 22 points at the line, while unable to substantially outrebound the Pistons. This will be a second straight road game, and the new-look Knicks have an extra day in the turnaround after a rough season opener in Boston on Tuesday. The Knicks looked good in the preseason and shot 55 percent vs. the Celtics but Boston had an incredible outside shooting game, making 29 3-point shots at a nearly 48 percent clip. The Celtics had only four turnovers as it was a championship level performance that would have blown out every team in the league. The Knicks got good minutes from Karl-Anthony Towns in his debut with the team while the bench provided good performances as well. Tom Thibodeau will have the defense ready to play tonight for the home opener against the team that eliminated the Knicks from the playoffs last May in a tense seven-game series with the Knicks losing 130-109 in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden to end the season. Injuries put the Knicks well below full-strength late in that series and this is an opportunity at redemption.