Game Preview: Knicks vs. Magic, January 6, 2025

01/06/2025 03:15 PM

Knicks, back home, look to get back on track against hobbled but pesky Magic team

The vibes surrounding these two teams couldn't be much more different right now. Despite New York having the superior record, their fans, due to the expectations of this team, have spent much of the past weekend frustrated with their recent two-game losing streak that included a pair of blown double-digit leads. Meanwhile, Orlando has quickly gained the respect of fans all around the league for playing hard every night and somehow staying afloat despite seeing their best players go down with injuries and missing significant time. While they, too, are coming off of a bad loss, there are reports that star forward Paolo Banchero isn't too far off from returning, giving fans plenty of hope moving forward.

Tonight, the Knicks will take on the Magic for the fourth and final time this year, and will do so against yet another variation of this team. The first meeting between these two teams featured a Magic team that relied heavily on Franz Wagner. Less than two weeks later, the Magic were without Wagner and were led by his older brother Moe and Jalen Suggs. Game number three between the teams came after the Magic lost the older Wagner to a season-ending knee injury. And now, New York will host an Orlando team that recently saw Suggs go down with a back injury against the Pistons just three days ago.

Projected Starters

Starting at point guard will be the son of former Knick, Cole Anthony, who is most known by Knicks fans for his 29-point outburst at The Garden in 2021. Anthony has gone from a starter averaging 31.7MPG in 2022, to a fringe bench player averaging just 13 minutes per game this year. But, with the myriad of injuries that the Magic are currently dealing with, he was thrust into the starting lineup in the Magic's 13-point loss to the Jazz last night. The fifth-year man is averaging just 6.5PPG and scored just 12 points on 5-14 shooting from the field yesterday, but expect him to stay aggressive tonight. His team badly needs offense, and we've seen him explode if he gets going.

Starting alongside Anthony will be shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who continued to struggle mightily. Despite being brought in to bolster the Magic's outside shooting, Caldwell-Pope is shooting just 30.1% from three, and just 40.6% from the field. He did give fans some hope, scoring 21 points, and 15 points in back-to-back games last week, but then followed that up with a two-point performance against Utah.

Caleb Houstan, who has started in just two games this season, started last night against the Jazz, and will likely get the nod once again tonight. The 6'8" 21-year-old wing doesn't have much of an offensive game outside of being a spot-up shooter, but given his height, there's plenty of upside. Fun side note though, Houstan is actually tied for the tallest active player with zero dunks with a minimum of 500 minutes played in the NBA. The graphic pictured below was from December 7th, and this site confirms that he has still yet to dunk in a game.

Continuing to get the start in the front court will be the rookie, Tristan Da Silva. The young forward has had some really nice games, including a 20-point performance against the Knicks on December 15th. But as is the case with most rookies, he has been somewhat inconsistent. Since his outburst against the Knicks, he's had five games of 15 or more points, but has also scored eight or fewer points in four games, with two of those games being zero-point performances.

Manning the middle will be Goga Bitadze. The center, who the Knicks sought after last summer, is in the middle of a very solid season in which he is averaging 9.9PPG, 8.5RPG, 2.4APG, 1.6BPG, and 0.9SPG, all of which are career-highs. In his three games against the Knicks this season, he is averaging 11PPG, 11RPG, 2APG, and 2.5BPG so New York will have to make sure that they keep him in check.

Prediction

It feels like all three of the games these two teams have played against each other have been similar. The Magic make the game as physical and messy as possible, the Knicks get off to a bit of a slow start, and struggle to get going. But then eventually pull away. And truth be told, I expect the same exact thing to happen tonight. Regardless of who is playing, and who is out, head coach Jamahl Mosley has continued to get the most out of every single player on his roster. That being said, at a certain point, there is a talent gap, and even if Towns is a no-go tonight, the Knicks just have too much talent for the Magic. Orlando, as they have done so before, will keep the game close, but when the Knicks do blow the gates open, I think they do it earlier in the game and do so more emphatically, given the Magic's depth, or lack thereof. I have the Knicks taking this one 115-100.

Game Details

Date: Monday, January 6, 2025

Time: 7:30 PM ET

Place: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

TV: MSG

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