New York Knicks Form
New York has had issues with their offense lately. In their last 4 games they’ve managed to score just 92, 96, 100 and 103 points, however they were able to win 2 out of those 4 games and they did so on the defensive end. The Knicks have the 6th best defense in the NBA in terms of opponent field goal percentages. They allow teams to shoot just 43% from the floor so it’s no surprise that their last 4 opponents have averaged just 99 points per game against them. One area this team has improved a lot this season has been three-point shooting. New York averages the 5th best shooting percentage from three-point territory, that’s something not even the biggest optimists surrounding the team expected to see. When it comes to covering the spread, the Knicks aren’t as dominant as they were last season, they’ve gone only 3-6 ATS in their last 9 games and 2-4 ATS in their last 6 at home.
Orlando Magic Form
Cole Anthony has been the only bright spot for the Orlando Magic this season averaging 20.2 points per game and dishing out 5.6 assists. This team is in midst of a rebuild and right now they are also severely handicapped with injuries as 5 players are out dealing with knee and ankle injuries. As a result they’ve lost their last game to Atlanta 129-111 and are now just 3-17 SU in their last 20 games. It doesn’t get much better on the road either, they’ve dropped 10 of their last 12 away games. Shooting has been a big issue for this team, they rank only 27th in the NBA in field goal percentage and naturally that has resulted in them averaging just 99.9 points per game this season which ranks only 28th in the entire league.
New York Knicks vs Orlando Magic Head to Head
These two teams have met already twice this season with each of them winning once. The most recent game was won by Orlando by 6 points, so I’m not really sure why the oddsmakers favor the Knicks by so much tonight. Sure, they will probably win tonight’s game, but I’m expecting a close contest here, so backing the Magic and the free points is the way to go in my opinion. Orlando to cover.
Betting Tip: New York Knicks vs Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic +11.5 Point Spread is available at -110 odds on bet365
With the Magic averaging under 100 points per game this season and shooting only the 27th highest percentage from the field at 41.8% I just feel like they might have a hard time scoring against one of the toughest defenses we have in today’s NBA. The total has gone under in 6 of the last 7 games for New York and in 5 of 7 for Orlando. If we look at the last 10 meetings head to head the two teams are averaging just 204.8 points per game while shooting around 43% from the field. Add to that the fact that the Knicks play only the 23rd slowest pace in the NBA, I think we could be in for a dog fight in this one and whoever gets more stops on the defensive end will come out victorious. Let’s back the under at MSG tonight.
