The Washington Wizards and the New York Knicks do battle at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
The Washington Wizards have been in a rut as they’ve lost six of their last eight games overall and they will be hoping to bounce back here after coming up short against the Magic in a 116-109 loss on Friday. Corey Kispert drained nine 3-pointers to lead the team with 27 points on nine of 14 shooting, Delon Wright added 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while Daniel Gafford chipped in with 18 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. As a team, the Wizards shot just 39 percent from the field and 17 of 50 from the 3-point line as they looked to be in control when they poured in 33 points in the third quarter to build a 16-point lead, only to let it all go to waste in the fourth quarter where they managed just 13 points to allow the Magic to run them down with ease.
Meanwhile, the New York Knicks have been in decent form as they’ve won six of their last nine games overall and they will be gunning for a fourth straight victory after taking down the Cavaliers in a 130-116 road win on Friday. Jalen Brunson led the team with 48 points and nine assists on 18 of 32 shooting while RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes and Immanuel Quickley each scored 14 points. As a team, the Knicks shot 52 percent from the field and 17 of 36 from the 3-point line as they exploded for 79 points the first half, thanks to a hot start from Brunson, before they restricted the Cavaliers to just 14 points in the fourth quarter to make it a blowout in the end.
Looking at the betting trends, the Wizards are 0-4-1 ATS in their last five road games, 1-5 ATS in their last six games against a team with a winning record and 4-10-1 ATS in their last 15 games overall. The Knicks are 8-2-1 ATS in their last 11 home games, 5-2-1 ATS in their last eight games against a team with a losing record and 14-6-1 ATS in their last 21 games overall.
Head to head, the under is 4-0 in the last four meetings overall and the Wizards are 13-4 ATS in the last 17 meetings in New York.
The Wizards are still missing Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis, while the Knicks will again be without Julius Randle and maybe even Derrick Rose who is questionable with an illness. The Wizards have little to play for at this stage of the season and they are still missing their three best players, so I’ll stick with the in-form Knicks to maintain their momentum with another win and cover at home.
