NBA Basketball
2025-12-13 - New York Knicks at Orlando Magic
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : NBA Basketball
Saturday 13th December 2025 - Scheduled 5:30pm
10:30pm (British Time)
Preview
The NBA Cup Final will not be a part of the regular season record, but the Semi Final games to be played on neutral court will be, although the players will be focused on winning what they hope will be the first of two trophies in the 2025/26 season.
The Orlando Magic (15-10) and New York Knicks (17-7) have made their way through to the NBA Cup Semi Final out of the Eastern Conference. The former rallied after a poor opening Quarter to beat the Miami Heat, while the Knicks dominated the Toronto Raptors on the road in the second Quarter Final.
This will be the fourth meeting between the Magic and Knicks in the 2025/26 season- Orlando won the first two, but New York rallied to win the most recent last week and that may give them the momentum in this Semi Final.
It also helps that the Knicks are looking a lot healthier than the Orlando Magic with key players available during the win over the Toronto Raptors. This gives New York the depth that has placed them amongst the favourites to win the NBA Championship, although the Knicks will have a lot of respect for a gritty, tough to beat Orlando team.
Frank Wagner may have missed out, but others stepped up to the plate and helped the Magic get the better of the Miami Heat.
They will need all of the shooters to prove to be as hot as they were on Tuesday night if they are going to beat this New York Knicks team. Orlando were particularly effective from the three point arc, but recent games suggest that performance was an outlier rather than the norm and that gives the Knicks the edge in this contest.
Offensively there has been a real chemistry building for the Knicks under a new Head Coach and the team have the momentum of having won four games in a row.
The Magic do play tough and they will not make things easy for the New York Knicks, but the extra depth of the latter and the absence of Frank Wagner could be telling.
Prediction
Lay the points with the favourite in this neutral site game.
The Pick :
Orlando Magic 102-109 New York Knicks
