NBA Betting – New York Knicks at San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs (1-4 SU, 0-5 ATS), who can consider themselves extremely shorthanded right now, have been able to rest for the last three days and take on the New York Knicks (4-2 SU, 3-3 ATS), who are adjusting to Mike D’Antoni’s new go-go style, in an NBA matchup in sports betting action that is scheduled to take place at 8:30 PM ET at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
BetUS NBA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: SAN ANTONIO -3.5, Total 196
Here are some of the NBA pro basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* NY has covered three of its last nine games
* NY has won four of its last six games SU
* NY has lost 15 of its last 23 games SU
* NY has played four of its last five games UNDER the total
* NY has covered six of its last nine road games
* NY has lost 14 of its last 17 road games SU
* NY has played eight of its last ten road games OVER the total
* SA is 0-7 ATS in its last seven games
* SA has lost six of its last seven games SU
* SA has played four of its last six games OVER the total
* SA has played 10 of its last 14 games UNDER the total
* SA has covered one of its last five home games
* SA has played six of its last seven home games UNDER the total
Also…
* SA has won the last six meetings SU
* Five of the last six meetings have gone OVER the total
* SA has covered eight of the last 12 meetings as the home team
* SA has won the last five meetings SU as the home team
San Antonio, which lost four of its first five games with master sixth man Manu Ginobili missing, got some more bad news over the weekend as Tony Parker was reported to be out with an ankle injury. Parker is scheduled to miss at least a month with a “Grade-2 sprain.”
Parker was most definitely a player who had stepped up his offensive game in Ginobili’s absence, averaging 27.7 points a game, which was second in the NBA. Now where do the Spurs, who were without many other scoring options, go to get points? More to the “point,” where do they get a POINT guard? Well, it looks like they might use George Hill, who was their first round draft this past year out of IUPUI (which, for the uninitiated, is Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis).
But Gregg Popovich is trying to keep that final decision to himself for as long as possible, like a football coach might be hesitant to reveal his starting quarterback until game time. It could be a reliable veteran backup Jacques Vaughn as well, or maybe Roger Mason Jr., who will log plenty of playing time regardless because of his ability to put the ball in the basket (16.2 ppg on 52.7% shooting).
As disappointing as the Spurs’ defensive performance has been, the Knicks have been even more sieve-like. New York has allowed opponents to shoot a shade better than 50% from the field, which means they can’t stop anyone. That is somewhat typical of D’Antoni-coached teams, as is the fact that they are putting points on the board (102.5 ppg, which is third in the NBA). And the Knicks are stretching defenses more, throwing in 10.7 three-pointers per contest, which is the best in the league. That figure is a dozen per game over the last four contests.
The Knicks have won three games in a row. And San Antonio is going to suffer because of its lack of depth. But this may not be the spot. This number comes in very reasonable, and we’ll count on Popovich to be resourceful enough to come up with a beneficial move or two. You’ve got to play defense on the road, or sooner or later it’s going to catch up to you. The Knicks don’t do that. Let’s lay the points with San Antonio, the 3.5-point favorite in the BetUS NBA pro basketball sports betting odds.
