There’s a lot of buzz around the Knicks in NYC right now, as the winning has replaced losing and it doesn’t take long for the basketball fans in this city to their fire lit up. With the Cleveland Cavaliers coming to Madison Square Garden, all eyes will be directed on whether Porzingis and co. can put up a good game and win again.
Cavaliers at Knicks
Spread: Cleveland -3.5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 220.5 points (-110)
The Cavaliers manage to get a split in Texas after tight win in Dallas
The Cleveland Cavaliers have not notched consecutive wins since opening the season 2-0 but have a chance for a rare winning streak after winning in Dallas 111-104 last night. They improved to 6-7 this season, scoring 110.2 points per game on average, but allowing 113.4 to their opposition. Not only they shoot worse, but they also get outrebounded, outhustled and make worse decisions than who they face, so there are plenty of areas that would need fixing before they gain some consistency.
LeBron James averaged 35.8 points in the first five games this month before producing 19 in the win at Dallas, but 3-point specialist J.R. Smith picked up some of the slack with 17 points to continue a productive stretch. After starting the season awfully slow, Smith regained some confidence about his shooting stroke and has his half of his three-point attempts over the span of three games. Against the Mavs, Smith was 4-of-9 from beyond the arc, and the Cavaliers were 12-of-31. Kevin Love was the hot hand with 29 points and he did some good work on the glass as well, grabbing 15 rebounds. He and Korver hit three treys each, some of which at the most crucial times. Jae Crowder came alive with 15 points and seven rebounds. The Cavaliers did not impress. They played one good quarter (third) and got lucky to have Dallas missing most of their long tries. The defense was still bad, the offense was still stagnant. They only led by two with a minute to go after Dallas made a strong comeback push to dwindle their short-lived 11-point fourth quarter lead. The good thing is that they managed to win without James doing all the heavy lifting.
Cleveland was without Derrick Rose for the second time in a row, so that’s a part of the reason they looked somewhat better during these Texas games. He’s questionable to play in NY, a city he called home last season. Tristan Thompson remained sidelined. They still visit the Knicks and the Hornets before returning home later this week.
Place: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Date/Time: Monday, November 13th, 2017. 7:30 PM ET
TV Coverage: MSG, FS Ohio
The Knicks win again at home
The slow start of the season is quickly forgotten. The Knicks have been winning at a high rate over the last two weeks or so, winning seven of the last nine games. Yes, you read that right, but go ahead and double-check if you don’t believe me. This stretch included a win over their next opposition, in Cleveland, so the atmosphere in MSG will be through the roof. If you ask any New York fan what or who ignited this incredible and unexpected winning, almost everyone will point to Kristaps Porzingis, who’s brilliant play earned him a career-first Conference Player of the Week award, but it’s only partially true. It’s often overlooked that the Knicks played just two games on the road in this time – the aforementioned win over the Cavaliers and the loss to Magic in Orlando (in which Porzingis handily did not play). The home court was not a stronghold in previous years, but the Knicks did play fair ball in front of their own fans. Combined with some poor teams coming in, the Knicks managed to build some momentum.
Their last win was over the sorry Kings, who didn’t stand a chance. The Knicks won 118-91, as no Sacramento starter scored in double-digits (this is not a rare occurrence for this team this season). Meanwhile, Kristaps Porzingis had 34 points on 11-of-21 shooting and Courtney Lee added 20, and three other Knicks players scored 10+ points. The game was only close up to the mid-point of the second quarter, when the Knicks used some strong outside shooting to go on a 21-7 run to end the half and open up a 15-point lead. It was only the beginning, as they would increase the distance to as much as thirty points after the break. Hornacek didn’t even have to use his starters in the final period, giving some of his rarely used player extra minutes. Not only the Knicks managed to hit their outside shots (44.4 percent on 3-pointers), they also dominated on the inside – outscoring the Kings 60-28 in the paint.
Joakim Noah has served his suspension and will be available to play against Cleveland, but it’s unlikely that he’ll crack the rotation now that the Knicks are rolling. He might replace Hernangomez for his small amount of minutes as the Spaniard is ill and questionable to dress.
Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks Game Trends & Prediction
The Cleveland Cavaliers did manage to cover by hitting their free-throws in the last minute, so that’s a P-W-W over the last three. They are still losing the money of their backers this season, going 4-8-1 against the spread overall. They are 4-2 away from the Q though. The over/under record is currently 8-5, and it doesn’t matter where they play at. The last game snapped a series of 5 overs in a row.
The New York Knicks ATS winning followed straight up scheme, so they were money recently. They are 7-5 so far this season, and 6-2 in front of their raucous crowd. The venue also played a big role in the over/under distribution. New York is 6-6 overall, but 6-2 at home when it comes to total points outcomes. Obviously, as they’ve been playing the majority of their game at home recently, the overs are prevalent.
Admi-Rank: The Cavaliers managed to halt the downfall and are now slowly climbing, but not to the previous heights. The Knicks, on the other hand, have reached their peak this season, but are still not at the same level as their next opponent.
The Cavaliers are going to come with a vengeance on their mind as they certainly remember the home loss about 15 days ago. My problem with this reasoning is two-fold. The books are very much aware of this and the Cavaliers still hold a bigger public appeal with all the recent losing than the victorious Knicks. Everybody’s waiting for the moment they turn things around. But a bigger issue is that the Cavs may not be able to pull a revenge win, at least not in a convincing manner with the level of play they are currently maxed out too.
On the other hand, you have to play this game by the numbers. The bookmakers have set the Cavaliers as a 3.5-point away favorite, without having much to justify it. The Knicks are striving to get home wins and despite doing it against some weaker opposition, and at home, the momentum they carry into this game shouldn’t be ignored. I’m picking the Knicks here, going with the points. The total points are expected at 220.5, exactly the same as my own estimation, so I need not to put much thought into it.
My Pick: New York +3.5 (-110)
Total: (no total points wager here)
