NY vs LA NBA Hoops Handicapping
A pair of iconic teams that have struggled all season long will clash in an East Coast versus West Coast rivalry game on Tuesday, when the Lakers hosts the Knicks at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. [ad-4468020]
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Date/Time: 10:30 PM ET, Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Venue:Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Broadcast: TNT
Spread: OFF (as of 10am ET)
Over/Under: OFF (as of 10am ET)
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The Knicks (29-41) have been awful this season, but appeared to have turned a corner, and were riding a seven-game winning streak heading into Sunday’s match up with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But poor defense could not preserve their lead heading into the final stanza, eventually allowing the Cavaliers to pull ahead with just over seven minutes remaining, winning it 106-100.
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New York’s Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points and J.R. Smith had 18, while Raymond Felton collected 14 points and eight assists and the Knicks missed their chance to pick up some much-needed ground on the Atlanta Hawks, remaining three games back in the race for the final No. 8 spot in the East.
The Knicks now begin a five-game Western Conference road trip that starts in Los Angeles, against a Lakers team that ended a four-game slide with a 103-94 win over Orlando last time out.
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Jordan Hill led the Lakers’ (23-46) offensive charge with a career-high 28 points and 13 rebounds while Nick Young scored 26 points to help LA, who played without leading scorer Pau Gasol in the second half due to illness, hold off the Magic in the fourth quarter.
Gasol finished with six points, three assists and two rebounds in 19 minutes.
The Lakers were also without veteran guard Steve Nash.
The Knicks and the Lakers already met once this season, with New York wining 110-103 back in Jan. 26.
Anthony scored 35 points in that one, while Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 18 points, fellow reserve J.R. Smith chipped in 16 and Tyson Chandler collected 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks.
Matt’s NBA Prediction:
The Lakers are 12-22 at home while the Knicks are 13-20 away from Madison Square Garden.
Head to head, the home team is 5-0 ATS in the last five meetings, but the favorite is 7-1 ATS in the last eight.
With all that I’m going with the Lakers in this one.
Lakers 105, Knicks 102
