Pick 'n' Roll: Today's best NBA bets
New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks (-11.5, 204)
The Hawks will play their third game in four days and are coming off back-to-back losses to the Cavaliers where they surrendered fourth quarter leads.
Atlanta combined to score 26 fourth quarter points in each of those losses and now face a Knicks team that has been a defensive stalwart as of late.
Save for New York’s last outing, the Knicks had held opponents to under 100 points in 11 straight games. A primary reason for the team’s turnaround after starting the season 1-9 is the alteration of the starting lineup by head coach Mike D’Antoni that included benching Nate Robinson.
A somewhat unknown starting five has created turnovers and grabbed rebounds – Danilo Gallinari, Jared Jeffries, Chris Duhon, David Lee and Wilson Chandler is the latest rotation getting it done for D’Antoni.
“You look for combinations with the chemistry, you look for guys who take to coaching and you look for what you think you could build on,” D’Antoni said. “Some combos are better than others. It’s not against the player or anything, but you have combinations that work for whatever reason.”
The Hawks haven’t lost three straight this year and are 12-3 inside the confines of Philips Arena. One of those losses came at the hands of the Knicks, who defeated Atlanta 114-107 on Dec. 4.
The visiting team is 8-2 ATS in the last 10 meetings of this series.
Pick: Knicks
Sacramento Kings at Los Angeles Lakers (N/A)
Both Tyreke Evans and Ron Artest are questionable for this matchup which is why no line has been released.
Artest has missed the last three games after falling down a flight of stairs on Christmas Day and the Lakers have struggled on defense without his prowess, giving up 113.0 ppg without its best defender in the lineup. Artest was still experiencing dizziness from the concussion on Wednesday and Phil Jackson said he was “very doubtful” for the game against the Kings.
Evans has missed last two games with a sprained left ankle, but Sac-Town is still managing to put up points and win without him. The Kings have posted 106 points in each of their last two games – a win over Denver and a loss to Philadelphia – and are averaging 104.2 ppg over their last five.
"Tyreke is a big piece of our team and he's been showing that the whole year," said Beno Udrih. "But we can't feel sorry for ourselves. Injuries are a part of the game and you deal with it."
Even with a broken right finger, Kobe Bryant is absolutely unconscious right now. Since fracturing his finger on Dec. 11, the Black Mamba is averaging 34.5 ppg and 5.2 apg and has posted 34 or more in five straight.
These two teams have played to the over in six straight and nine of their last 10 meetings.
Pick: Over
New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks (-11.5, 204)
The Hawks will play their third game in four days and are coming off back-to-back losses to the Cavaliers where they surrendered fourth quarter leads.
Atlanta combined to score 26 fourth quarter points in each of those losses and now face a Knicks team that has been a defensive stalwart as of late.
Save for New York’s last outing, the Knicks had held opponents to under 100 points in 11 straight games. A primary reason for the team’s turnaround after starting the season 1-9 is the alteration of the starting lineup by head coach Mike D’Antoni that included benching Nate Robinson.
A somewhat unknown starting five has created turnovers and grabbed rebounds – Danilo Gallinari, Jared Jeffries, Chris Duhon, David Lee and Wilson Chandler is the latest rotation getting it done for D’Antoni.
“You look for combinations with the chemistry, you look for guys who take to coaching and you look for what you think you could build on,” D’Antoni said. “Some combos are better than others. It’s not against the player or anything, but you have combinations that work for whatever reason.”
The Hawks haven’t lost three straight this year and are 12-3 inside the confines of Philips Arena. One of those losses came at the hands of the Knicks, who defeated Atlanta 114-107 on Dec. 4.
The visiting team is 8-2 ATS in the last 10 meetings of this series.
Pick: Knicks
Sacramento Kings at Los Angeles Lakers (N/A)
Both Tyreke Evans and Ron Artest are questionable for this matchup which is why no line has been released.
Artest has missed the last three games after falling down a flight of stairs on Christmas Day and the Lakers have struggled on defense without his prowess, giving up 113.0 ppg without its best defender in the lineup. Artest was still experiencing dizziness from the concussion on Wednesday and Phil Jackson said he was “very doubtful” for the game against the Kings.
Evans has missed last two games with a sprained left ankle, but Sac-Town is still managing to put up points and win without him. The Kings have posted 106 points in each of their last two games – a win over Denver and a loss to Philadelphia – and are averaging 104.2 ppg over their last five.
"Tyreke is a big piece of our team and he's been showing that the whole year," said Beno Udrih. "But we can't feel sorry for ourselves. Injuries are a part of the game and you deal with it."
Even with a broken right finger, Kobe Bryant is absolutely unconscious right now. Since fracturing his finger on Dec. 11, the Black Mamba is averaging 34.5 ppg and 5.2 apg and has posted 34 or more in five straight.
These two teams have played to the over in six straight and nine of their last 10 meetings.
Pick: Over
