The Detroit Pistons look to even the series against the New York Knicks on Monday.
The pregame narrative: Detroit let Game 1 slip away in the fourth quarter, but I’m happy to back the away side to cover an alternate spread again. This SGP also includes picks on Cade Cunningham and Josh Hart.
Check out my Pistons vs. Knicks play-in SGP predictions for Game 2 on April 21.
Pistons vs. Knicks predictions
Parlay: Pistons +11.5 | Cunningham over 8.5 assists | Hart over 15.5 rebounds/assists (+310)
Pistons +11.5 (-275): The Pistons had the Knicks right where they wanted them, up eight going into the final frame.
New York went on to score 21 unanswered fourth-quarter points and won 123-112 in the end. Detroit covered this spread, but it wasn’t pretty.
I expect a young Pistons squad to use the experience and be more poised in Game 2 if a lead presents itself.
And Detroit may just have the edge in this matchup when exploring the regular-season meetings.
- The Pistons went 3-1 against the Knicks, winning the final three matchups.
- Detroit won those three games by an average of 7.7 points.
- Two of those three wins were in New York.
The Knicks aren’t world-beaters. They had a 0-10 record against the three best teams in the league in the regular season.
This series should be close, and barring another collapse, the Pistons should be in this game until the end.
NBA SGP legs
Cunningham over 8.5 assists (-136): The playmaking guard easily cleared this line in Game 1, recording 12 assists.
He had the best season of his career, which included 9.1 assists and 15.4 potential assists per game.
His floor as a passer is very high, and I assume the Knicks will want to continue to force the ball out of Cunningham’s hands.
That’ll force other Pistons to be the deciding factor, but Cunningham should continue putting his teammates in prime positions to score.
Cunningham had 20.0 potential assists in Game 1. “Potential assists” are passes that lead directly to a shot by any teammate.
Hart over 15.5 assists/rebounds (-117): I feel pretty good predicting Hart to play more minutes in Game 2.
The stat-stuffing guard played just 29 minutes in Game 1 after missing the final regular-season contest with a knee injury.
Hart led the league in minutes per game (37.6) this year, so I’m sure Tom Thibodeau is itching to have his workhorse out there more.
When he is fully available, take a look at what Hart can do:
- 15.5 rebounds/assists per game this season.
- Averaged 16.1 rebounds/assists in 36.8 minutes over his final 10 games.
- Went 4-0 against this line to close out the regular season.
This will come down to availability, but Hart is off the injury report prior to Game 2, so I feel a full workload is coming.
Pistons vs. Knicks predictions made at 1:30 p.m. ET 04/21/2025.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.