Neither the Knicks nor the Mavericks have been getting it done on the defensive end of the court recently, so the Over is an easy bet to make tonight at Madison Square Garden.
Both the Knicks and the Mavericks have been consistent Over teams when facing an up-tempo opponent. Just as importantly, neither squad has been playing a lick of defense in recent weeks. We can expect an ample supply of easy scoring chances when these two disappointments face off tonight in Madison Square Garden, making the Over worthy of a wager in this ballgame.
[articleBanner]who2beton[/articleBanner]The Knicks have been playing some of the worst defense in the NBA in their last five games, allowing opponents to shoot better than 50% from the floor against them. We’ve seen New York face off in track meets against other up-tempo teams here at the Garden, with final scores of 219 against the Suns and 222 against the Jazz in recent home games. Facing a hot-shooting Mavs squad that has cracked the century mark in nine of their last 10 meetings against Isiah Thomas’s squad, we can expect the Knicks defense to be their Achilles heel once again here.
But Dallas isn’t playing a lick of defense either. We saw the Mavs get torched by a Tim Duncan-less Spurs team on national TV last week, then follow up that performance by allowing 122 points to the Nuggets and 117 points to the Jazz in their next two games. For the season, Dallas is 15-6 to the Over, perfectly content to run-n-gun without exerting themselves on the defensive end of the court.
The loser here could easily score 100+, sending this game flying Over the total. Take the Over.
Free Pick: Mavericks-Knicks Over 201 (-106)