After an abysmal month of January, the New York Knicks kicked off February in style with a win over Brooklyn and have another poorly ranked opponent on tap for Monday, this time at home, when they host the Los Angeles Lakers at Madison Square Garden. The Lakers offer an easy defense for the Knicks who themselves also rely on their offense to pick up a well below average defense.
At 7 p.m. ET, tune into Time Warner Cable SportsNet or MSG Network for live television coverage of this NBA basketball game on Monday, February 6, 2017, at Madison Square Garden.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Monday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Knicks win against Brooklyn snapped a two game skid and brought a brief three game road trip to an end. That’s good for those looking to back New York on Monday as the Knicks are 15-9 ATS at home this season. They’re also 3-1 ATS in their last four games, but are just 3-3 ATS in their last six at home.
While there’s plenty to be down about with this team in the Big Apple, one silver lining of late has been Willy Hernangomez. The rookie has been good when given the chance. He had just over three minutes on the court in the quadruple overtime loss to Atlanta, but got plenty of time with Kristaps Porzingis out on Tuesday, scoring 15 and nabbing 14 rebounds. That earned him more time in Brooklyn where he scored 16 with 16 rebounds and a block to help secure the victory.
Hernangomez slated for more time is great sign for Knicks’ fans and bettors alike.
On the other side, a big game from D’Angelo Russell in his return from injury helped elevated the Lakers to a win over the Nuggets on Tuesday. The win snapped a three game losing streak and was just the team’s second win in their last 10 games.
Even so, the Lakers still elevated their ATS record to 4-1 in their last five games with the win.
Injury Report
Derrick Rose should be back in the fold on Monday and that’s big for a team that shot just 35.4-perecent from the floor in its last games—even if it was a win.
In the backcourt, Brandon Jennings and Courtney Lee got the start and shot 4-for-18 and 0-for-6 from beyond the arc. While Rose’s defense leaves plenty to be desired, he should help the team shoot more consistently from the parameter, opening things up a bit inside for Carmelo Antony and Porzingis.
Speaking of Porzingis, he was back on the court on Wednesday and was crucial to the win, shooting 7-for-15 and tallying 19 points and 12 rebounds. He did suffer a bit of back tightness, but nothing to cause concern over his status for Monday.
As for the Lakers, they don’t have too many injury questions at the moment either though Julius Randle has now missed two straight games with pneumonia and could be out on Monday as well.
With 13 PPG, Randle is one of the more prolific players on the team in terms of talent, but he’s been as inconsistent as anyone. In his last eight games on the court, he topped nine points just twice.
Last Meeting
These two teams met in Los Angeles back in December with the Knicks pulling out a 118-112 victory in a high scoring game against the home team.
Louis Williams led the Lakers in scoring with 24-poitns off the bench while Russell and Brandon Ingram each shot just 1-for-8 from the floor. Randle had a good game in the loss, scoring 17 and adding 10 rebounds while Luol Deng and Jordan Clarkson each shot well, too.
Los Angeles won the battle in the paint, outscoring the Knicks there by 18, but they lost the game as they shot much worse on the parameter with the Knicks going 10-for-22 from three as Courtney Lee, Porzingis and Jennings each went 3-for-4 behind the arc.
Rose had a huge game in the win. While Randle and Deng held the own inside against Porzingis and Anthony, Rose went 12-for-16 from the floor for 25-points and was nearly unstoppable.
Meanwhile, the Knicks also beat the Lakers on the boards with Porzingis and Hernangomez having 13 and 12 rebounds respectively. Randle led the Lakers with 10.
Free NBA ATS Picks
A pair of bad defenses and passable offenses meet on Monday, so look for a higher scoring game similar to the one between these teams when they met in December.
New York will have Rose back on the court and a healthy Porzingis and Antony giving them a good shot at repeating the a victory. Add in more playing time for Hernangomez who has looked very good in limited action and things are looking pretty good for the team from the Big Apple.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are still struggling to get anything consistent from their top young players and while guys like Nick Young, Deng and Williams can put points on the board from time-to-time, they don’t stack up with the Knicks .
NBA Odds: Knicks 115, Lakers 109
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