The Knicks were in the driver's seat through two games of their opening-round series before a blistering shooting night from the Sixers pulled the rug out from under them. Now, they'll attempt to get back on track before putting themselves in danger of blowing a 2-0 series lead for the first time in 11 years.

New York's offense has looked the part of a championship side through three games, but some issues are beginning to creep in both defensively and on the glass. Philly, meanwhile, is steadily growing into this series and will hope Joel Embiid can continue to lift this team well above its level.

What happens on Sunday afternoon? Let's make some predictions for Knicks vs. 76ers on Sunday, April 28.

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NEW YORK KNICKS VS. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS FANDUEL ODDS FOR APR. 28

MONEY LINE

• NEW YORK KNICKS: +190
• PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: -230

SPREAD

• NEW YORK KNICKS: +5.5 (-108)
• PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: -5.5 (-112)

OVER/UNDER (TOTAL)

• OVER 204 (-110)
• UNDER 204 (-100)

BEST ODDS FOR NEW YORK KNICKS VS. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

• The Knicks are being spotted the same number of points across the board, with the best odds on Knicks +4.5 (-108) over at BetRivers.

• You'll find the best odds on the 76ers over at DraftKings, offering Sixers -4.5 (-110)
• The best odds on the Over 208.5 (-110) are at BetRivers, while BetMGM has the best price on the Under 209.5 (-110)?

NEW YORK KNICKS VS. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS INJURY REPORT

NEW YORK KNICKS INJURY REPORT

• JULIUS RANDLE - OUT - SHOULDER
• MITCHELL ROBINSON - QUESTIONABLE - ANKLE

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS INJURY REPORT

• ROBERT COVINGTON - OUT - KNEE
• JOEL EMBIID - QUESTIONABLE - KNEE

WHY NEW YORK KNICKS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

Simply put, the Knicks will cover the spread if they continue to play the way they've been playing over the last two months. Since March 1, this was the seventh-best 3-point defense in the NBA which makes perfect sense given the acquisition of OG Anunoby during the middle of the season. For the year, they were in the bottom half of the league in this category, but they've shown a marked improvement and also held the Sixers to roughly 35% shooting from outside through two games.

With nearly 50% of shots falling from deep, the Sixers were able to overcome what was an inspired offensive performance from the Knicks -- their best of the series by far from an efficiency perspective. They'll need to continue shooting the ball well against a middling 3-point defense, and while I'd put the onus on Jalen Brunson to not have another clunker as he did in Game 2, it's worth noting the Knicks still posted a 113 offensive rating, something that is just fine when you consider how poorly Brunson played.

The rebounding numbers will also have to tilt back in their favor. The Knicks commanded the glass in Game 1, before we saw essentially a 50/50 split in Game two by the analytics and a stunning display from Philly in Game 3.

It's worth noting that the Knicks were 23-18 straight up on the road this season and shot 0.8 points better from deep, which should be a feather in their cap here.

WHY PHILADELPHIA 76ERS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

The Sixers are going to need Joel Embiid to continue carrying the load offensively. Without him, as we saw in the month of March, this is a very poor team -- and even then his contributions have been rather one-dimensional with the bulk of his contributions coming as a distributor and a shooter.

Philly continues to do a great job of protecting the rim, but it has shot an abysmal 58.7% in this zone on offense and that's due to the fact that Embiid, perhaps not fully healed from his injury and now battling Bell's palsy, has been camping out on the arc. It will have to hope that the shooting keeps up here, and that the potential absence of Mitchell Robinson means some loosely-contested 3s for Embiid.

The rebounding trends will also need to remain in Philly's favor. We saw the Knicks dominate on the glass during the regular season a year ago before succumbing in that area to a poor rebounding team in the second round of the playoffs when they lost to the Heat. This isn't an unfamiliar script, and by stealing away the rebounding edge Philly can take this one somewhat comfortably if it even shoots 40% from deep.

FINAL KNICKS-76ERS PICK & PREDICTION

The Sixers' performances on the glass and from 3 in Game 3 were outliers, simply put. The Knicks may not have been the best team in the league when defending the 3 this year, but they've done a great job in that regard over the last two months, including the first two games of this series.

Sure, the Knicks have struggled to score inside, but the 3-pointer is the bread and butter of this offense and should return here in a road game, where they've done an excellent job of knocking down shots.

Expect some shooting variance to kick in for both teams, and for Embiid's herculean efforts to come slightly back down to Earth.

FINAL KNICKS-76ERS PICK & PREDICTION: KNICKS +4.5 (-110)

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