Lakers vs. Knicks Prediction: NBA Odds, Point Spread
The Lakers continue their New York trip on Monday night in a meeting with the Knicks. L.A. is coming off a commanding 126-101 win in Brooklyn on Saturday, while New York is looking for their third straight home win.
The Knicks are slim 2-point favourites to win on the NBA odds with a total of 205.5.
NBA Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Even without LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lake Show are favoured by almost 70 per cent of Sports Interaction bettors. With such a low total, the Over is seeing 82 per cent of the action. It’s worth noting, however, that L.A. is at the end of a long road trip and New York is playing for the second straight night, neither of which bode well for a lot of points being scored.
At the start of the season a 3-3 record on their East Coast road trip might not sound good, but considering those games have been played without James or Davis, L.A. has to take it as a win. For the season L.A. is 25-26 against the spread, including covering in four of their last five games. The Under is 21-8 in their last 29 road games.
New York is exactly .500 on the season, but they’ve been a lot more consistent at paying bettors. They’re 20-8-1 ATS in their last 29 games overall and they’ve covered in nine of their last 10 games as a home favourite. The Under is 10-4 in their last 14 games overall and 4-1 in their last five home games.
Los Angeles Lakers
L.A. is coming off their most impressive win of the year. They routed the Nets 126-101 on Saturday night in Brooklyn without James, Davis, Kyle Kuzma, Wesley Matthews and Marc Gasol, while Dennis Schroder was ejected in the third quarter. The Lakers came out aggressively and never let the Nets get comfortable. Eight different players hit double-digit points, including four players who also had at least six rebounds. Kuzma (calf), Matthews (achilles) and Gasol (hamstring) are all questionable for Monday.
Andre Drummond is going to be the key for L.A. in this game. In just his third game with the Lakers on Saturday, Drummond had a team-high 20 points and 11 rebounds on 8-of-15 shooting from the field. He dominated in the paint against the Nets, but he’ll face a tougher matchup against New York’s Nerlens Noel. Drummond is going to need to be smart offensively and capitalize on his chances against a tough Knicks defence.
New York Knicks
It’s a small sample size, but New York has looked strong over their last two games. They’re on the playoff bubble and in a very crowded area of the Eastern Conference standings. The Knicks are eighth in the conference, but only two games separates ninth place from fifth, so games are going to matter more and more as the season winds down. They’re in a good position to at least make the play-in tournament, but you’ve got to think they’ll try to avoid that at all costs.
Julius Randle will determine how the rest of the season goes for New York. It’s a huge load on his shoulders, but that’s why he’s an All-Star and the Knicks’ best player. In New Yorks 102-96 win over the Raptors on Sunday, Randle finished with a game-high 26 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. He’s averaging team-highs in points per game (22.8), rebounds (10.7) and assists (6.0), but he’ll have his hands full when he matches up against L.A.’s Markieff Morris.
LAL
NY