Knicks – Wizards

The New York Knicks will host the Washington Wizards in a meeting between two Eastern Conference teams with playoff aspirations.

The Knicks (19-24, 12-9 home) are absolute rubbish right now, losing 11 out of their last 14 games, falling out of playoff conversation for the moment. The atmpsohere in the team is poor with all kinds of things happening and nothing good seems likely to happen in the future for New York. That being said, New York is on the back of a shock win in Boston last night, taking care of an excellent Boston team 117 – 106. That was without Porzingis, Thomas and Noah – and all of them will miss out today as well.

Washington Wizards (22-19, 4-13 away) have won 3 in a row and 6 of their last 7, playing some great basketball under the leadership of their superstar John Wall. Like the Knicks, they are on a back to back after beating Memphis by 3 points on Wednesday. Being on a back to back on the road does not sound like good news for a team like Washington, which has a very poor record away from home this season.

New York is back to back and missed 3 rotation players in last night’s win against Boston, including their best player Porzingis. All those guys will miss again today. The Knicks have to play a second night in a row tonight with a shorthanded roster, after injury prone veterans Rose and Anthony logged 33 minutes each on Wednesday. I reckon they are in a worse situation than Washington in this regard, even though New York will host the match.

Knicks won just 3 of their last 14 games and all 3 wins had particular circumstances – against the Bucks is was a case of Bucks freezing in the last minutes after leading all game by double digits, Bucks lost that game, NY did not win it. The Bulls were shorthanded and missing their best player. As for last night`s win in Boston, it was just one of those games. Without Porzingis, New York loses in Boston 9 out of 10 times – it happened to be last night.

New York is not winning many games in this league without Porzingis. After an unusual very good performance last night and playing on a back to back against a solid Wizards team, chances are the Knicks will be poor today.

Washington does struggle on the road, but they are playing much better recently and this should translate away from home tonight against a banged up New York side. I expect the Wizards to win. My tip is Washington to cover the 2 point handicap. Prediction: New York Knicks – Washington Wizards 100 – 110.

Pick: Wizards -2
Odds: 1.86 @ 1xBet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 6.88
Event date: 20 January