Oklahoma City Thunder At New York Knicks
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010 at 7:35 PM EST
Opening Line: New York -1
Current Line: New York -1
Opening Total: 218
Current Total: 216.5
Opening Moneyline: New York -110 / OKC -110
Current Moneyline: New York -115 / OKC -105
New York, after going on a tear, enters tonight game as losers of their past three games, but two of those games were against premier teams (Miami & Boston) and the other was against the lowly Cavs. Amar’e Stoudemire has been playing out of his mind and has scored 30 or more in 9 of his last 11 games, and more than 35 in three of them. Oklahoma City has won 7 of their last 8 games, but most of them have been against lackluster opponents; only one (New Orleans) had a winning record.
Some betting trends: Oklahoma City has won 9 of their last 12 road games and 6 of their last 7 against the Knicks. They are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 road games against the Knicks. The total has gone OVER in 5 of Oklahoma City’s last 5 in New York and Oklahoma City has lost 8 of their last 12 at Madison Square Garden.
New York has won 13 of their past 17 games and the total has gone OVER in 5 of their last 7. The total has gone OVER in 9 of New York’s last 11 against OKC.
Some key matchups for tonights game:
Kevin Durant vs. Wilson Chandler
Though Chandler is the power forward in New York’s lineup right now, I can’t imagine that they are going to let Danilo Galinari matchup against Durant. He would be torched. Chandler, however, is a decent defender and has a decent shot at covering Durant, while Galinari will likely cover the much less explosive Jeff Green. Durant has scored 24 or more in all 9 of his last 9 games and scored 32 last game against Charlotte in an 18 point Thunder win. Chandler is having a career year for himself, though, too, scoring 17.1 points per game and grabbing 6.3 rebounds per game. He also uses his athletic body to block 1.6 shots a night, very impressive for a small forward playing out of position who is only 6’8″ to begin with. He should be able to keep Durant in check, and prevent a huge night, but we all know Durant is capable of dropping 30 on just about anyone.
Serge Ibaka vs. Amar’e Stoudemire
Ibaka is a pretty good defender, but will that be enough against the red hot Stoudemire? Probably not. While Stoudemire won’t be able to take it to the basket every time against Ibaka, who is a very good shot blocker (2.3 per game), he’ll be able to take Ibaka outside where he has a very effective jumpshot. Basically, what I am saying is that Amar’e is good enough that he’ll find a way to get his, even against a good defender like Ibaka.
Tonight’s game promises to be a close one, as NBA oddsmakers have predicted by setting a one point spread. Oklahoma City has one of the league’s best road records at 10-4 and they’ll be up for the challenge of playing in the raucous arena of Madison Square Garden.
