The Knicks are having an upstart season, well as far as the Eastern Conference goes. New York is 8-6 on the season which is good enough for 5th place in the downtrodden East. The Knicks trail their 11/17 free NBA pick opponents the Toronto Raptors by a game.
Oddsmakers aren’t throwing much love New York’s way mostly because they’re playing on the road tonight, where the Knicks are 1-3 on the season (compared to 7-3 at Madison Square Garden). Toronto is favored by -8, largely in part because they went 4-0 against New York last year too. Is that too many points to give – or not enough?
Knicks On a Mini-Roll
New York is 7-3 in their last 10 although eight of those games have been at the Garden. Maybe NY isn’t horrible on the road, it’s just that they’ve had small sample sizes? 10 games ago the Knicks did hand the Cavs a 17 point shellacking in Cleveland so the road woes may indeed be a myth.
The thing that has Knicks fans legitimately excited this season is that they’re getting things done on both ends of the basketball court. Kristaps Porzingis is dumping in 28.9 ppg making him the 3rd highest scorer in the league. Overall the Knicks offense is ranked 4th in the league in field goal percentage while their defense is 6th in opponents shooting percentage against.
Serge Ibaka-Toronto Raptors Ibaka has swelling in his left knee, leaving his availability against the Knicks on Friday in question. #NBA #DF
— Daily NBA Lineups (@NBALineupsDaily) November 17, 2017
The Raptors and 8 Points…
There’s no doubt that Toronto is playing top notch basketball as well having won four of their last five games. The Raptors have the #3 scoring offense in the league at 111.4 ppg and they’ve put up 119 or more in four of the past five games. DeMar DeRozan was a Knick-beater last year, tallying 32.0 ppg in the Raptors’ season series sweep.
Fatigue could be a factor working against Toronto however as they’ll be playing their fourth game in six nights for the 11/17 free NBA pick. The past three games were on the road too in tough fought battles against the league’s top brass including Boston, Houston, and New Orleans. The Knicks on the other hand were at home the past three games and are on the road for the first time in a week.
Anyone else coming to Toronto’s Air Canada Centre to celebrate the @nyknicks doing a dance on the Raptors homecourt?
See you there. pic.twitter.com/kxjckiDMTH— Sheldon Isaac (@Shel_Isaac) November 17, 2017
11/17 Free NBA Pick – Betting Edge
The line in favor of Toronto -8 seems a bit high regardless of if the Knicks may or may not be struggling on the road this season. 52% of the public likes New York and the points and it’s because there’s much more to their team than Porzingis. Tim Hardaway Jr. has scored 28, 26, and 26 points in three of his last four while Courtney Lee has 20, 15, and 19 in the last three. The Knicks have the third best rebounding margin in the league and Enes Kanter has notched 16 an 13 boards in two of his last three.
Toronto is a bit road weary and the Knicks want to start reaping revenge against a Raptors squad that swept them in all four games a season ago. The New York +263 ML looks tempting if you can pull the trigger, otherwise 8 is a lot of points.
Pick: New York Knicks -8
