Eastern Conference squads meet on the first night of the NBA's In-Season Tournament when the Milwaukee Bucks host the New York Knicks at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday. For this game, SportsLine consensus lists the Bucks as 5.5-point favorites, while the over/under is 224.5 (see up-to-date odds for every game this week on our NBA odds page). 

Before making any Knicks vs. Bucks picks, you NEED to check out the NBA predictions from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past five seasons. The model enters Week 2 of the 2023-24 NBA season on a 77-41 roll on all top-rated NBA picks dating back to last season, returning nearly $3,000. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.

The model knows the Knicks have the superior defensive bonafides in this matchup. While Milwaukee is struggling on that end, New York leads the NBA in defensive rebound rate (78.8%) and second-chance points allowed (7.6 per game). The Knicks are also in the top six of the league in 3-point defense (31.6%) and assists allowed (21.4 per game). 

The model also knows the Bucks have a prolific offense, led by two stars in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. Milwaukee is leading the NBA with 31.0 free throw attempts per game in the early going, and the Bucks are in the top eight in both field goal percentage (48.2%) and 2-point percentage (57.8%). Milwaukee can also attack a New York team that is dead-last in the league with only 2.6 blocked shots per game.

Now, it has set its sights on Knicks vs. Bucks. We can tell you the model is leaning Over the total, and it also says one side of the spread hits in well over 50% of simulations! You ABSOLUTELY need to see it before locking in any NBA picks.

Who wins Knicks vs. Bucks? And which side of the spread hits in well over 50% of simulations? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out which side of the Knicks vs. Bucks spread you should be all over Friday, all from the model on a roll on NBA picks!