The New York Knicks will travel to Cleveland with hopes that their young team learns from the experience of playing conference champions, but they might not see the best. The Cavaliers season has been a bumpy ride so far, and that might open a small door for the visitors to pull off an upset.
Knicks at Cavaliers
Spread: Cleveland -9.5 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 211 points (-110)
Porzingis leads the Knicks in a win over city rivals
What was obvious from the first tipoff of this season happened on Friday night as well. Latvian stretch forward Kristaps Porzingis delivered. He scored 30 points in just 29 minutes, adding 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, in a 107-86 victory over the nearby Brooklyn Nets. This was the first Knicks victory of the season (and preseason when they were 0-5), as they still search for a new identity, offense, and rotations. Against the Nets, not all, but some of it came together.
The Knicks took control of the game with a good second quarter, and put it away with a dominant third, opening an insurmountable lead. The Nets usually won’t be that inferior, but their bad night also played a big role in large and easy Knicks victory. Still, there were signs of player picking up the new offense and hustling on the defensive side. Jack started at the point, bringing a calming veteran presence. The Knicks also got much better precision from their shooters, especially McDermott and Lee, who both hit half of their long ball attempts. As a team, the Knicks hit 45 percent of their field goal attempts against the Nets. They also dominated the glass, winning the rebounding battle 55-34. Defensively, the managed to control the Nets and hold them to just 40 percent shooting.
Rookie guard Ntilikina returned from a two-game absence and played a bit better in backup point guard’s role.
Place: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Date/Time: Sunday, October 29th, 2017. 7:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: FSOHIO, MSG
While solving offense, the Cavs suffering from bad defense
Those same Brooklyn Nets who has scored only 86 points on the Knicks, scored 112 on the mighty Cleveland Cavaliers just a couple of days before. Of course, this can happen to any pair of teams in the league, but is just an example of how soft the Cavaliers were in their last few games. Orlando, Chicago, and Brooklyn, hardly a top-level teams, each scored between 112 and 114 points against the Cavaliers over the last week. The Cavaliers play tonight against New Orleans, so they might improve on this impression, but any lineup they threw out there so far – and there were four starting ones – struggled defensively. At first, it seemed that removing Tristan Thompson from the middle of it was a bad idea, but the trend continued even with him playing the center. It seems that a big part of it is plain laziness. Coach Lue doesn’t have any authority to make players play defense. He, like other Cavs fans can only hope.
Against the Nets, it was a collective malaise of not running hard to the three-point line. If you had ever been near these athletic giants of men, you understand that they reach there in one or two steps. The Cavs choose not to make them, or fake running out. The result: 17 three-pointers for the Nets. Long gone were the days when you can just pack in the paint against any team and watch them clank shots from outside. I believe some of the players don’t appreciate being yanked out of the lineup to start the season – namely J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson. Smith claims that his struggles stem from a back pain, but I don’t buy it. He’s shooting terribly and is nowhere near the interested, active player on the defense from a few seasons ago. Love hasn’t stepped into a role of a second-best player vacated by Irving departure. He is shooting only .418 from the field, and a dismal 6-of-25 (24 percent) on 3-pointers. James is off to a blazing start, but that the usual James. He’ll try to wheel this team to win, but he can do it by himself, nor only on the offensive end.
The Cavaliers played without a true point guard in the last couple of games, handing the duties to James. The reason for that was Rose injury, and he might be available to play tonight. It could help with some issues. Rose is a poor defender himself, but gives them a lot of ball handling, relieving James off it partially. This means that he doesn’t have to take so many defensive possessions off to catch his breath, and in case you didn’t realize by now, other Cavs players look up to him. With the return of Rose, Lue once again needs to drop someone to the bench, and I’m guessing it’ll be J.R. Smith, who suddenly seems as an odd fit with any unit.
New York Knicks at Cleveland Cavaliers Game Trends & Prediction
Not only have the Knicks won for the first time, but they also covered for the first time this season. Of course, they only played four games and both of their away games were at far superior teams, but the Cavaliers are probably holding this distinction despite the recent underwhelming results. During Carmelo Anthony’s tenure, the Knicks retain some of the public team characteristics, despite the losing. So it was understandable that they don’t fare well against the spread. This year, it should change over time. The Knicks also played only one over, so they are 1-3 both against the spread and in the total points market.
Prior the game in New Orleans, the Cavaliers have had a 1-4 ATS record. Considering that the Pelicans might play without Davis and that the Cavs are only a slight favorite, they might improve on it tonight. They’ve gone 2-3 against the over/under. The good news is that the Knicks didn’t pose any trouble to them in the near past. Cleveland covered in five consecutive games against this opponent.
A unique ranking system – AdmiRank helps you understand how good NBA teams are on a scale to 100. The slide the Cavaliers have endured in the past ten days brings the teams closer, but it’s still a major difference between the sides. The Cavs might be tired a bit, and battling injuries, but these two aren’t on the same planet.
The Cavaliers do have a nasty habit of playing down to the opposition, so it’s rarely a good thing to hold their side at home, against the inferior opponent. On the other hand, they play better than the most teams on the second night of a back-to-back. This comes with a small, but increasing risk of opting to rest James on some of those nights, so it would be wise to wait the game day for any bets. On the other side, the Knicks got the monkey off their backs, but aren’t much more than a single man team. It starts with Porzingis and ends with Porzingis. This won’t win them many games, especially not on the road, or at all against playoff teams.
The Knicks will be aided by +9.5 points as a courtesy of sportsbooks. There are two reasons not to see double digits spread in this game. The Cavs are playing back-to-back, and they are in a bad stretch of form. The actual difference in quality between the two teams doesn’t justify it. I’m at -10.5 here, but won’t jump on the early offer, as I want to see a confirmation that Cavs play with a full squad. The total points has been set at 211, and that’s too low for what’s today’s Cavaliers’ defense. The Knicks might not be great offensively, but they push the ball more than before and come in confident after a good offensive game. With a risk of losing some value after the Pelicans’ game and potential over that will convince more people, I’ll wait for news confirmation as well.
My Pick: Cleveland -9.5 (-110)
Total: over 211 points (-110)
