{"id":83025,"date":"2025-12-14T12:52:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T12:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/83025\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T12:52:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T12:52:18","slug":"knicks-vs-magic-prediction-nba-cup-picks-odds-best-bets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/83025\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks vs. Magic prediction: NBA Cup picks, odds, best bets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\tGambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/betting-editorial-standards\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">editorial standards<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n<p>The Knicks head to Las Vegas to take on the Magic in the semifinal round of the Emirates <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/betting\/nba-betting-sites\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NBA<\/a> Cup on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They caught a major break after Magic star Franz Wagner suffered a high left ankle sprain when these two teams matched up on Monday, taking him out for this key mid-season tournament game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s nearly 23 points per game missing from Orlando\u2019s lineup.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If their first and only full game without Wagner this season is any indication, Desmond Bane should fill the void on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Bane had his best game in a Magic uniform on Tuesday against the Heat since being acquired from the Grizzlies over the offseason, equaling his season high with 37 points on 14-of-24 shooting and 6-of-9 from deep.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After a slow start, Bane has come into his own in Orlando.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Through his first ten games with the Magic, Bane averaged just 14.2 points per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since then, he\u2019s looked much more like himself, averaging 22.2 points per game on 49.7 percent shooting and 37.5 percent from three-point land.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"37915576\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2251071583.jpg\" alt=\"Orlando Magic player Wendell Carter Jr. holds the basketball during the Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals.Desmond Bane #3 of the Orlando Magic shoots a basket against the Miami Heat in the second half of an Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals game at Kia Center on December 09, 2025 in Orlando, Florida. \" class=\"wp-image-37915576\"  \/>Desmond Bane #3 of the Orlando Magic shoots a basket against the Miami Heat in the second half of an Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals game at Kia Center on December 09, 2025 in Orlando, Florida.  Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>After initially struggling with his shot, Bane has been lights out in December, averaging 45.2 percent from deep on 6.2 attempts per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Having already faced them three times this season, Bane has looked good against the Knicks, averaging 21.7 points per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Betting on the NBA? <\/p>\n<p>The Knicks have been susceptible to shooters like Bane so far in the 2025-26 campaign, allowing 14.5 threes per game, which are the 5th-most triples allowed per game in the league.<\/p>\n<p>Look for Orlando\u2019s new addition to put up another solid game on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The play: Desmond Bane Over 20.5 points (-110, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/article\/fanduel-sign-up-offer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FanDuel Sportsbook<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Why Trust New York Post Betting<\/p>\n<p>Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He\u2019s particularly knowledgeable about the big three \u2014 MLB, the NFL and the NBA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[4640,2295,43583,15355,139,141,1239,140,110,5775,5776],"class_list":["post-83025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-betting","tag-nba","tag-nba-betting","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlando-news","tag-sports","tag-sports-betting","tag-sports-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}