The New York Knicks and the Minnesota Timberwolves duke it out at the Target Center on Tuesday night.
The New York Knicks have been in rough shape lately as they’ve lost nine of their past 13 games overall, but they will be looking to stay hot after blowing past the Hawks in a 101-87 home win on Saturday. Julius Randle led the team with 25 points, 12 rebounds and three assists, Evan Fournier and Quentin Grimes each scored 15 points while Kemba Walker chipped in with a triple-double of 10 points with 10 rebounds and 12 assists. As a team, the Knicks shot 44 percent from the field and 20 of 50 from the 3-point line as they poured in 61 points in the first half to take the 10-point lead into halftime, before restricting the Hawks to just 15 points in the third quarter to push the lead out to 21 points.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been in great form lately as they’ve won five of their past seven games overall and they will be looking to stay hot after sneaking past the Celtics in a 108-103 home win last night. Jaylen Nowell led the team with 29 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench, Nathan Knight added 20 points, 11 rebounds and four assists while Jaden McDaniels chipped in with 17 points on six of 14 shooting. As a team, the Timberwolves shot 44 percent from the field and 14 of 34 from the 3-point line as they looked to be in trouble after trailing by 12 points in the first half, but they stuck with it and turn the game around in the second half where they outscored the Celtics by 63-47 to escape with the unlikely victory.
Looking at the betting trends, the Knicks are 9-1 ATS in their last 10 Tuesday games and 10-3-1 ATS in their last 14 games playing on two days’ rest. The Timberwolves are 4-1-1 ATS in their last six games playing on zero days’ rest, 6-1 ATS in their last seven games against a team with a losing record and 5-1 ATS in their last six games overall.
Head to head, the under is 4-1 in the last five meetings in Minnesota and the under is 5-0 in the last five meetings overall.
The Knicks are a little banged up as they’re still missing players like Kevin Knox, Jericho Sims and Danuel House Jr, but they will be hoping to get on a roll after making light work of the Hawks on Christmas Day. The Timberwolves have their own list of players missing as D’Angelo Russell, Naz Reid, Anthony Edwards and Patrick Beverley are all in the league’s health and safety protocols. The Timberwolves looked great in their comeback win over the Celtics last night, but it’s going to be hard to replicate that effort on zero days’ rest. This should be a close one, but I’m sticking with the Knicks to escape with the much-needed win in this spot.