Denver Nuggets (47-23 SU 31-35-4 ATS) at New York Knicks (25-45 SU 32-37-1 ATS) Madison Square Garden New York, NY 7:30 PM EST Tuesday March 23, 2010 on NBA TV
by Jason Green at Predictem.com
Point Spread: Nuggets -6 / Knicks +6
Over/Under: 217
Bet on NBA games at a sportsbook that offered you reduced odds betting. This will save you big bucks over the long term! (Betting at -105 odds isntead of -110!) Find this great offer and more at 5Dimes Sportsbook.
Tonight in the Big Apple the New York Knicks host the solid Denver Nuggets. Both teams are coming off a loss, but the Knicks are only 4-6 in their last 10 games while the Nuggets are 8-2 in their last 10.
The Knicks are out of the playoff picture and the big news for them will be in the summer to see if they can pry LeBron James from the Cavaliers or Chris Bosh from the Raptors.
Denver is 5 games back of the L.A. Lakers for the top-spot in the Western Conference and only 1 game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks. Denver would like to stay ahead of Dallas, as they would be able to host a possible Western Conference semifinals series.
This season the Knicks are 15-22 at home and the Nuggets are 17-17 on the road.
The Nuggets have to shoot better than they did in the last game when they were only 37.1% from the field in a home loss to Milwaukee.
Denver has won 4 straight against the Knicks and in that span New York has given up an average of 117.8 ppg. In their last game against Denver the Knicks scored 125 points and still lost.
The Knicks really have to worry about scoring machine Carmelo Anthony (28.8 ppg), who scored 50 points against the Knicks this season in Denver and in his last 4 games in New York he is averaging 31.3 ppg on 53.9% shooting.
The Nuggets have been a much better rebounding team than the Knicks this season, but they will be without leading rebounder Kenyon Martin (9.6 rpg) tonight, who is out with a knee injury.
The Over might be a good pick, as each team can light up the scoreboard, but neither ranks in the top 21 in the league in opponents’ points allowed.
In their last game the Knicks lost to the Houston Rockets 116-112 on Sunday. The high scorer for New York in the game was David Lee going for 27 points and he was also a monster on the glass grabbing 20 rebounds. For the game the Knicks shot well going 42/82 from the floor for a FG% of 51.2%. On defense the Knicks allowed the Rockets to shoot 41/81 for a FG% of 50.6%.
The Nuggets lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 102-97 on Saturday night. The high scorers for Denver in the game was Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups both going for 29 points. For the game the Nuggets were ice cold only going 32/86 for a FG% of 37.2%. On defense the Nuggets allowed the Bucks to shoot 35/76 for a FG% of 46.1%.
This season the Nuggets rank 3rd in the league in scoring (107.5 ppg) and the Knicks rank 13th (101.6 ppg). Both teams weakness is their defense, as the Nuggets rank 22nd in opponents’ points allowed (102.3 ppg) and the Knicks rank 25th (104.5 ppg). The Nuggets have been a better team on the boards this season, as they have a rebounding differential of 0.0 rpg while the Knicks are at -4.8 rpg.
According to the Sagarin NBA ratings the Nuggets rank 5th (94.47) and the Knicks rank 22nd (86.09).
New York is 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 games as an underdog of 5.0-10.5, 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games as a home underdog, and 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning record.
New York has an Over record of 5-1 in their last 6 games as a home underdog, has an Under record of 7-3 in their last 10 games, and has an Over record of 5-2 in their last 7 games as a home underdog of 5.0-10.5.
Denver is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games as a favorite, 1-9-1 ATS in their last 11 games against teams with a winning percentage below 40%, and 10-4-1 ATS in their last 15 games following an ATS loss.
Denver has an Under record of 5-2 in their last 7 games.
In 4 of the last 5 meetings between these 2 teams in New York the total has gone Over.
On the injury front C Chris Andersen and PG Ty Lawson are day-to-day and PF Kenyon Martin and PF Renaldo Balkman are out for Denver. SF Jonathan Bender is out and C David Lee, C Eddy Curry, and SF Wilson Chandler are day-to-day for New York.
Jason’s Pick: Denver has owned New York in the past few games and I think they will win this game, but with Kenyon Martin out they will suffer on the boards and the Knicks will make this a close game and they will cover the spread. Take the Knicks and the points in this game.
