NBA Odds – Oklahoma City Thunder vs. New York Knicks Prediction
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Date/Time: Wednesday, December 22, 7:30 PM ET
Venue: Madison Square Garden in New York
Broadcast: FOXOKHD, MSG
Oklahoma City Thunder at New York Knicks Betting Lines from betED
Money Line: OFF
Spread: OFF
Over/Under: OFF
The Thunder have played poorly defensively as of late and will look get back on the rails with a win over the cooling New York Knicks who lost a thriller in overtime to the struggling Cavaliers last time out.
New York has now dropped three in a row after winning 13 of 14, but still maintains a 4 ½ game lead over third place Philadelphia while falling to seven games back of Boston for the lead in the East.
Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton each scored 23 points for the Knicks, as Stoudemire missed a fade away jumper at the end of regulation that could have won the game. The Knicks leading scorer and rebounder left the game in the third quarter after briefly losing feeling in his left arm. He sat out of the team’s five-on-five scrimmage on Tuesday, but coach Mike D’Antoni said that Stoudemire’s absence was precautionary and he is expected to play on Wednesday against Oklahoma City.
This game, like the three before it, was lost defensively, as the Knicks held several leads bay as many as nine points in the first half but couldn’t hold them.
The Knicks outside shooting was pitiful as the team hit 11-of-34 3-pointers for the game, while being out rebounded and turning the ball over a game-high 19 times.
Something they will not want to do against a Thunder squad that had been on a roll until losing to Phoenix last Sunday. The Thunder had held opponents to 89.7 points per game on 41.1-percent shooting while winning the previous three games of their home stand.
The Thunder is 8-3 against teams from the East, giving up 97.5 points in those contests compared to 104.7 against the West.
Oklahoma City will look to put up similar defensive numbers against a New York team that will be coming off a three-day rest period while they complete two back-to-back road games.
Kevin Durant, who leads the Thunder in scoring and rebounding, will need to have a bigger game than Stoudmire who looked weary after Sunday’s bout, logging 37.8 minutes per game through 28 games, averaging 26.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
Matt’s Free Prediction: The odds haven’t been posted at the time of this writing, but I am assuming the odd makers will favor the Knicks in this one, if not for anything but home court advantage. Both teams like to score and have shown its potential to collapse defensively when it matters most, so a high scoring affair should be in order. If the spread is less than seven, go with Thunder, if not stick with the Knickerbockers in this one.
Matt Martz is a sports writer for the Bakersfield Californian, the Oregonian and Utah Spectrum. Blessed is the gambler who expects nothing, for ye shall not be disappointed.
