The New York Knicks will host the Orlando Magic on Sunday matinee game in what promises to be an exciting offensive game. Each team started the season above their expectations, but the season is long and requires continuity, and that’s a challenge for the Knicks and the Magic.
Magic at Knicks
Spread: TBR at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: TBR
The Magic routed by hot-shooting Warriors
The Orlando Magic are known for playing just one side of the court, so even with their shots falling, they were crushed by the Golden State Warriors 112-133. Playing no defense may work against some, but not against the champions. Of course, sometimes all effort can be futile, so it’s possible that the Magic suffered from coming in with a wrong mentality.
The Magic shot 51 percent in the first half, but they never led as the Warriors did as they pleased. Riddled with an alarming lack of attention to detail and physicality, the Magic were just simply outclassed in every area. The Warriors scored with such ease that their success seemed almost comical at times. Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and their teammates made 63 percent of their shots, recorded an NBA season-high 46 assists and encountered too little resistance. Golden State withstood a 29-point performance from Orlando forward Aaron Gordon, who made 12-of-23 of his shots. Fournier chipped in 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Vucevic could get going in such fast-paced game, a Simmons was just 6-of-18 and missed all of his three-point attempts. Orlando has hit 46 percent of their shots and 11 threes, but it wasn’t nearly enough to compete with the Warriors onslaught. The Magic could never recover from giving up 78 first-half points.
Terrence Ross suffered a complex knee injury and is likely done for the season, so Vogel said that he’ll start Simmons in foreseeable future. Two players are similar and the Magic don’t lose much, except the depth. Rookie Isaac is still out.
Place: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Date/Time: Sunday, December 3rd, 2017. 3:30 PM ET
TV Coverage: MSG, Fox Sports Florida
Porzingis’ sprained ankle spoil otherwise perfect night for the Knicks
The Knicks have become increasingly tough to beat at home, but it was no contest in their last game against the road-weary Miami Heat, who decided to give Whiteside a rest and essentially waved the white flag at the tipoff. The Knicks took advantage, winning convincingly 115-86. However, they had to survive an injury scare to their star big man Kristaps Porzingis, who left the game early in the first half and wouldn’t return.
Luckily for the Knicks, the game was going well nonetheless. New York used two runs in the first quarter to build double-digit lead, and another in the second, to lead 65-44 at the intermission. The Heat showed very little resistance too, and the second half was a walk in the park. Enes Kanter returned from his injury to dominate on the inside. He finished with 22 points (7-of-9 FGs, 8-of-9 FTs) and 14 rebounds (6 on the offensive end). Courtney Lee was also very efficient with his 17 points, and Jack once again managed to guide his team to major positive minutes without having to score. Hornacek used all of his available options on the wing and on the interior to fill in Porzingis’ minutes and could do no wrong. Whoever steps on the court was ready to play. The Knicks shot 60.3 percent from the field, and needed no three balls as all the alleys to the rim were open. They scored 58 points in the paint, most of which at point-blank range.
Porzingis escaped a serious injury but is questionable to play in this game. He didn’t practice (also reported to be ill) but is walking without a limp and has said that he’s hopeful that he wouldn’t miss any games. Rookie backup Ntilikina sprained his ankle earlier this week and was unable to play Wednesday vs. Miami. However, he was able to practice on Friday and could return to action. This is the first game of an important back-to-back set that will send the Knicks to Indianapolis on the following day, but they should have enough energy for it as they last played on Wednesday.
Orlando Magic at New York Knicks Game Trends & Prediction
The Magic fell to 10-12-1 against the spread, but are a solid 6-6 on their road games. However, most of the success comes from the early going, as they’ve covered only once in the last five, and only twice in the last nine games. They’ve also lost all but one game of their last 10, so it is not a good time to jump on them. The overs streak continues, counting to six now, as Orlando has been giving up more than 122 points on average over this stretch, while also scoring in triple digits in each contest. This improved their O/U record to 13-10 overall and 8-5 away from home.
New York played 14 of their 21 games at home and made the best of this schedule. They are 11-3 against the spread at home and 13-8 overall. They are also 7-3 over the last ten games but only split the last four. There aren’t this clear trends when it’s down to the total points betting, but the fact that they can score at home and can’t do it on the road reflects there as well – New York is 9-12 against the over/under overall, and 7-7 in Madison Square Garden.
Admi-Rank: The Magic regained their shooting touch recently, and it helps them trend up, although they’ve already slid quite a bit, so it takes a little to do so. The Knicks are fine as long as they play at home, but this number is near their peak.
Two teams met earlier this month when the Magic won 112-99 in Orlando. It’s a different story in New York, but their chances for a repeat victory would grow larger if the Knicks decide to hold Porzingis out. It’s also an early tip-off game, and plenty of (Eastern Conference) teams start off those very slowly, so it may come down to who find their rhythm first. The Magic have enough firepower to surprise the Knicks but would have to catch them sleepy and cold to hold them to a reasonable scoring on the defensive side.
The Unicorn is precious for any decision on taking sides, so the books simply can’t overlook the fact that he’s questionable to play. Don’t worry, I’ve run calculations to fit both scenarios and you can have my fair numbers to work with as soon as the market opens. Here they are:
(Porzingis playing) – New York -6 and over/under 214 points
(Porzingis out) – New York -2.5 and over/under 211 points
The most likely value here is the under points if Porzingis does play, but let’s wait and see.
My Pick: (odds yet to be released)
Total: (odds yet to be released)
