The blazing Rockets go for their 10th
win in 13 games when they host the fading Knicks at the Toyota Center in
Houston. Who would have thought the Rockets would be the better of the NBA
picks before the season began?
NBA odds opened up with the Rockets favored
by -6 points with the spread moving up to 7. The total is currently at 193.5.
Houston
(11-8 SU & ATS)
got a big lift from the bench in its lopsided 103-76 victory over Washington,
dropping the Wizards to 0-8 on the road. Chase Budinger who had been
buried on Kevin McHale’s bench the past three games, started in place of the
Rockets leading scorer Kevin Martin and stole the show. Budinger sank four
3-pointers and scored a season-high 21 points. Jordan Hill contributed a
double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, forced 24
turnovers and won for the 19th straight time when holding their
opponent below 90 points.
Houston is now 8-2 SU & 7-3 ATS in its
last 10 games. The Rockets have won 12 of their last 13 games at home.
New
York (7-12 SU, 5-14 ATS) continued its slide dropping a 99-89 decision in Miami
although they did cover as a +10 point underdog. New York
played without Carmelo Anthony, who expects to miss at least two
games, including tonight, while dealing with ankle, thumb and wrist problems.
LeBron James scored 31 points
and Dwyane Wade scored 28 in his return from a sprained right ankle
to lead the Heat. The Knicks employed an interesting strategy--shoot early and often from downtown. New York
took 43 shots from 3-point range, the most in the NBA this season and a total
that was six attempts shy of the Mavericks league record of 49 set in 1996. The
Knicks connected on 18 from beyond the arc (41.1 percent) with Bill Walker who
led NY with 21 points, making seven of them.
Toney Douglas scored 16 points while
Amare Stoudemire finished with 12 for New York, which tried more 3’s than
2-point shots.
The Knicks are 3-7 SU and 2-8 ATS in their
past 10 games including 1-4 on the road (SU/ATS).
Knicks
Struggles
The Knicks are now 1-7 in their last eight games
and the proverbial noose is getting tighter around the neck of head coach Mike
D’Antoni. With each loss, the trade that brought Anthony to the Big Apple gets
worse by the day. The Knicks have never recovered from a deal that gutted their
starting lineup and bench and is now 21-30 since making the deal for ‘Melo.
New York has been held below 90 in six of its
last 10 games and with Anthony hurt and the team without a legitimate point
guard, the scoring slump is likely to continue.
Trends
The Knicks are 6-16 ATS in their 22 games and
are 2-5 ATS in their last seven games following an ATS loss. They’ve also gone 4-0-1 to the ‘under’ in
their last five games against teams with a winning record.
The ‘under’ is 10-3 in the Knicks last 13
games as an underdog and New York is 21-7 in its last 28 games overall.
Houston is 10-3 to the low side in its last
13 home games and is 7-2 in its past nine games as a home favorite. The Rockets
are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games overall. The favorite is 8-1 in the last
nine series meetings.
Harvey’s take: I’m riding with the Rockets. New York is a loss or two
away from total implosion and they’ll receive one of them tonight. My sports betting money is
on Houston -6 and the ‘under’ which to me is the stronger of the two plays.
Good
luck!