The NBA season continues on Sunday with a seven-game slate and a ton of betting value. Our NBA experts have found four best bets worth tailing, including three different bets for Kings vs. Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Check out their picks and analysis below.
NBA Odds & Picks
Sacramento Kings vs. New York Knicks
Andrew O'Connor-Watts: Something has clicked with the Knicks defense recently, and the result has been unsurprising–the Knicks are an absolute under machine in the month of December, hitting in all five of their contests this month.
Their defense has improved since the beginning of the season, going from a 114.1 Adjusted Defensive Rating through November to 112.4 in their past five games, according to Dunks and Threes.
The Kings have also been playing to the under despite being better known for their offensive capabilities. The Kings are 3-1 to the under in their past four games., and this is the result of some overblown residuals from the beginning of the season which saw some high-scoring Kings games.
While the Kings are top 10 in pace (102.1), the Knicks are near the bottom of the league at 97.6, but both teams have top-five Defensive Ratings in their past five games.
The Kings do have a scary offense, and it’s still getting the job done lately, but the Knicks have been struggling offensively, which should make up for whatever the Kings can come up with by way of scoring.
I’ll take the under in this spot and anything at 228 or better.
Pick: Under 231.5 |
Sacramento Kings vs. New York Knicks
Matt Moore: Make sure De'Aaron Fox is out for this. Fox missed the last game with a foot injury and is questionable for this one. However, the key here is the combination of Fox and Terence Davis. Davis has the best on-off splits for the Kings in Net Rating. They are +10.9 with him on the floor and just +1.9 with him on the bench in over 200 minutes.
The Kings are 8-4 ATS on the road but started 6-1. The market is starting to adjust to them being, you know, not Kings-bad for the first time in years.
I have this power rated in the Kings' favor, but them being without the pair of Fox and Davis is enough to get to the Knicks here. If Fox plays, absolutely stay away, so make sure he's out before betting this.
Sacramento Kings vs. New York Knicks
Joe Dellera: The Sacramento Kings take on the New York Knicks today, and the Kings may be without star point guard, De’Aaron Fox. Fox has led the Kings to play at one of the fastest Paces in the league, but even without him, their Pace has settled around 101.8, which would still be the sixth-fastest Pace in the league (they currently are in sixth with a Pace of 102.14).
The Knicks also play relatively fast, with the 13th-fastest Pace in the league (100.18). I expect this to be a relatively fast game and a Pace-up spot for New York.
One player whom the Knicks have recently begun to rely upon is Quentin Grimes (finally!). Grimes contributes as a bucket, but his defense has been strong as well. One area he has done well in, especially from the guard position, is rebounding. His rebounds prop is set at 3.5, and although there is heavy juice, he’s exceeded that total in eight of his last 10 games.
Alright, don’t give us just a (-160) juiced prop on a Sunday, Joe.
Well, if we make this 4.5 rebounds (+124), he has hit this in 7/10, and he has hit 6+ rebounds (+220) in 3/10. Given the Pace I expect to see in this game, all of these are within reach for Grimes. I would play at least one of the 3.5 or 4.5 with a sprinkle on 6+.
Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks
Matt Moore: The Number: I have this power rated pick 'em with both teams fully healthy. The Hawks are without Dejounte Murray (worth about two points to the spread in my opinion), Deandre Hunter (Hawks are 11-15 ATS without him this year) and John Collins (worth about one point to the spread in my opinion).
The spot: The Bulls are on a road back-to-back. BUT! They absolutely waxed the Mavericks without their starters (Dallas was on a back-to-back) in an early Saturday game. They didn't have to play starters big heavy minutes and didn't have a rough travel spot. Since 2013, teams who won by 20 or more on a back to back and are on the road as fewer than a five-point dog are 18-16 straight up and 23-11 (67.6%) ATS.
The matchup: The Hawks are going to play drop coverage and let DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine shoot off the dribble. That's what those guys want to see.
