The 9-13 LA Lakers will travel to battle the 16-5 New York Knicks in an NBA pro basketball game on Thursday night. Tip off time from Madison Square Garden in New York is scheduled for 8PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by TNT.
The betting odds from this NBA game have the home team New York Knicks favored by -7 points with an over under line of 209 points. There has been no line movement since the odds opened up on this game a few hours ago.
The teams met twice during the lockout shortened season a year ago with each team winning and covering the point spread on their home court. Both games played under the total. Trend: The under is 4-0 in their past four head to head meetings.
The Lakers are 2-7 straight up on the road this season. They have played terribly defensively on the highway by allowing 103 points per game and turn it over 18 times away from home. LA has allowed 100 or more points in six of their past seven games. Monday night was the lowest point of the season as the Lakers drop a 100-94 to a bad Cleveland team as a -6 ½ point favorite. They had no answer for point guard Kyrie Irving as he knifed through the Lakers defense with ease. The Lakers got some good news as Pau Gasol has been listed as questionable for Thursday. He has missed five games with knee tendinitis and the team is 1-4 in his absence. Pau has career low marks in most offensive categories this season and has not been aggressive getting into the paint on the year.
The Knicks are a perfect 8-0 on their home court. New York has won seven of their past eight games. They enter play off a 100-97 road win at the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday as a -3 ½ point favorite. New York rallied from a 30-16 deficit after one period. Carmelo Anthony had a monster game with 45 points and 15 of 24 shooting. Jason Kidd contributed with 18 points and a clutch four point play late in the game. New York has scored 100 or more points in seven of their past eight games. They have allowed less than 100 points in seven of their past eight games. Simply put they are getting it down on both ends of the court. The defense has improved mightily this season over last.
