Suns vs. Knicks Odds, Preview, and Prediction
Suns vs. Knicks Odds
| Suns Odds | -3 |
| Knicks Odds | +3 |
| Over/Under | 216.5 |
| Date | Friday, Nov. 26 |
| Time | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| TV | MSG |
On Friday evening, the Phoenix Suns and the New York Knicks will battle at Madison Square Garden.
Entering play, Phoenix has won 14 games in a row, with notable wins during that stretch against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Knicks have struggled to integrate new pieces to the roster during the early portion of the new campaign, which has resulted in only 10 wins in 18 contests. Oddsmakers anticipate a tightly-contested affair between these two teams this evening, pricing the Suns as three-point road favorites on the spread.
Let’s take a closer look at Suns vs. Knicks odds and NBA betting tips for tonight’s matchup on TNT.
Phoenix Suns (-3)
On the season, the Suns own the fourth-best Net Rating of any team in the NBA. They also rank third in Net Rating when playing on the road, outscoring their opponents by six points per 100 possessions. Part of the reason that Phoenix has been so successful this season is attributable to their excellent depth. The Suns have six players averaging double-figures in scoring, and 10 players who are averaging 7.1 points or better per contest. Having high-quality players throughout the roster enables Head Coach Monty Williams to keep his team fresh on a nightly basis, even when dealing with extensive travel and other scheduling difficulties during the grueling NBA campaign.
Phoenix runs an offense that is somewhat contrary to modern analytics in the NBA. The Suns attempt 33.2 percent of their shots from 5-to-19 feet from the basket, resulting in the third-most mid-range field goal attempts per game. The Knicks have the worst defensive field goal percentage in the league from 10-to-14 feet, but are holding their opponents to a stifling 28.4 percent shooting from 15-to-19 feet. Arguably a better game plan tonight for Phoenix’s offense would be to emphasize the corner-three. Only the Chicago Bulls have a better shooting percentage from that area of the floor this season, and it is a shot that the Knicks struggle to defend—ranking 25th in the NBA in opponent field goal percentage from this zone.
New York Knicks (+3)
There is very little in the data to suggest that New York is capable of keeping pace with Phoenix in this Friday night affair. The Knicks rank 15th in the league in Net Rating on the season, and are a puzzling 21st in Net Rating at home, where they have been outscored by 1.4 points per 100 possessions. Madison Square Garden is often thought of as a hostile place to play, but New York has suffered losses to the Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks and two losses to the Orlando Magic at home this season.
New York needed to address their offensive deficiencies from last year, which resulted in adding both Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier in the off-season. Though both players have contributed positively on the offensive end of the floor, they have hurt this group tremendously on defense. When both Walker and Fournier are on the court together this season, the Knicks are allowing 116.6 points per 100 possessions, which ranks in the seventh percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. Derrick Rose is listed as questionable for tonight’s action. If he is unable to go, New York could be forced to use Walker more than usual, which could hurt New York’s ability to get stops in this one.
Suns vs. Knicks Picks
When betting on sports, it is always important to be mindful of the public money breakdown. The Suns are a heavy public play tonight, garnering over 70 percent of both total tickets and the handle on the moneyline and the spread. Sportsbooks rarely allow this much money to come in on one side of a play without significant line movement. Still, the Suns are the far superior team in this matchup, and Phoenix could have even more of an advantage if Taj Gibson, Mitchell Robinson, and Derrick Rose ultimately end up ruled out for this contest.
Being mindful of the public money breakdown, this is a spot for a small wager on Phoenix as they go for their 15th consecutive victory.
PICK: Suns ML (-156)
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