Wizards vs. Knicks Betting Line – February 9
Carrie Stroup here with your Wizards vs. Knicks betting line for Tuesday night Pick'em, Total: 207
WASHINGTON WIZARDS (22-27) at NEW YORK KNICKS (23-31)
The Knicks will be looking to prevent a six-game losing streak when they host the Wizards on Tuesday.
Washington is coming off of a 108-104 loss as a five-point road underdog against Charlotte on Saturday. The Wizards have not been playing very well recently, losing three of their past four games and eight of their past 10. They do, however, get to face a Knicks team that has been even worse over the past few weeks.
New York has lost five straight games and the team has shot less than 40% from the field in three of those contests. The Knicks are not getting it done offensively and it caused Phil Jackson to fire Derek Fisher on Monday. Kurt Rambis will now step in as the head coach for New York and he’ll hope to get this team back into the running for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Knicks and Wizards have met just once this season and New York won that game 117-110 in Washington. Yet, the Wizards are 7-3 SU in hits head-to-head series dating back to Mar. 1, 2013.
One trend favoring the Wizards in this one is that the team is 13-9 ATS when playing on the road this season. Washington is also 16-10 ATS when coming off of a SU loss this season. The Knicks, meanwhile, are 19-15 ATS versus Eastern Conference opponents this season.
The Wizards are coming off of a tough loss against the Hornets, but they now face a Knicks team that is in shambles. PG John Wall (20.0 PPG, 9.8 APG, 4.5 RPG, 2.1 SPG) is going to have to be extremely aggressive in this one. The Knicks do not have guards with the speed to cover him and he will need to go to the basket as often as he possibly can on Tuesday. He scored 25 points when these teams met in October and has been on fire lately, averaging 23.6 PPG and 10.2 RPG over the past five contests. Wall is shooting 42.9% from the outside in that span and that just might open up even more room for him to drive moving forward.
Another guy that will need to have a big game against the Knicks is SG Bradley Beal (18.4 PPG). Beal has been playing very well recently, averaging 22.0 PPG over the past two contests. He is 18-for-29 in those games and if he can continue to shoot the ball this well then it’s only a matter of time before Washington turns things around. Beal should be feeling confident coming into this game, as he had 26 points against the Knicks in October.
C Marcin Gortat (13.5 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 1.3 BPG) will also have to play well for Washington. He had just nine points and five boards the last time he faced New York and needs to find a way to effect the game around the basket on Tuesday.
The Knicks should come out with a ton of energy on Tuesday, as Phil Jackson has shown that he will not tolerate the way things have been going for New York. One guy that must come out and play a good game is SF Carmelo Anthony (21.1 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 4.2 APG).
Anthony is shooting just 32.4% from the floor and 13.3% from the outside over the past four games and he needs to start shooting better. Anthony is the leader of this team and the Knicks will not go anywhere if he is going to continue to shoot this poorly.
PF Kristaps Porzingis (13.8 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 1.9 BPG) could be in for a big game against the Wizards on Tuesday. Porzingis is averaging 19.0 PPG, 11.5 RPG and 4.0 BPG over the past two contests and the Wizards are not going to have much of a match for him at the power forward position in this game. They usually go small and if that’s the case then Porzingis will be able to shoot over whoever guards him in this one.
PG Jose Calderon (7.6 PPG, 4.0 APG, 1.0 SPG) is going to need to play some solid defense in this game and that is not something he is known for. Calderon will spend a lot of time guarding John Wall and if he does not do a decent job of guarding him then it’s very likely that the Wizards will win this game in New York.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
