The Knicks have really struggled out the gate, sitting bottom of the East with a woeful 2-9 record so far. On the contrary, there is some optimism for a Mavericks side that is now 6th in the West, having won 6 of their first 10.
The obvious storyline in this game is Kristaps Porzingis, who returns to New York after a relatively messy exit. Punters are loving the Mavericks in this spot, with two-thirds of the early action on Dallas -7 points.
That said, I’m taking somewhat of a contrarian view here and like the Knicks in primetime. Plain and simple, I think this is just too many points for Dallas to be laying on the road.
This line suggests that if the game was played in Dallas, the Mavericks would be favoured by a whopping 13 points. The Knicks have been awful thus far but often the ugly duckling teams are the best ones to bet on.
If it wasn’t for Luka Doncic, I think the Mavs would clearly be a bottom-tier NBA team. Porzingis has underwhelmed thus far and the rest of the side is made up primarily of role players.
The Knicks have shown flashes at times this season, least of all when they won in Dallas just last week. They actually match up rather well with this Mavericks side, especially on the interior.
When the crowd is on their side, the Garden is also one of the better home court advantages in the NBA. There will be a ton of animosity towards Porzingis and I expect the primetime atmosphere to galvanize the Knicks players.
Doncic probably does just enough to get the Mavs over the line here, but I think the Knicks are live dogs with a good chance of keeping it close. Especially if you can get them through the key number of 7, I recommend backing #knickstape here.
*With Kyrie’s status up in the air for this clash, this play is contingent on him being available here.
Despite a relatively poor 4-6 start to the campaign, the East is so poor that the Nets currently sit in 7th. The Nuggets have been good but not great out West, occupying a top 4 spot with a 7-3 record.
Brooklyn have opened as 9-point underdogs in this one, getting 55% of the early action. I’m inclined to go with the public here and back Brooklyn, assuming Kyrie’s injury is nothing major.
While they’ve had some poor losses in the early going, I think this is a side that gets up for big games. They won their lone primetime tilt with Houston earlier this season and I anticipate another motivated performance here.
I haven’t found Denver to be all that impressive thus far and see some value catching almost double digits. Denver have maybe only 2 really good wins, also coming up short in winnable games against Dallas, New Orleans, and Atlanta.
Given their talent on offence, I think Brooklyn match up quite well with Denver. Although Caris LeVert is out, this means more chances for Kyrie to create and more opportunities for 6th man Spencer Dinwiddie. The Allen-Jordan duo also ensures 48 quality minutes at Center and should help somewhat limit Jokic.
As a team who seems to lack motivation at times, a primetime game in front of the nation is exactly what this Brooklyn side needs. I expect a relatively close game late and will happily take Kyrie and co plus the 9 points.