New York Knicks at Miami Heat
December 28th, 2010 at 7:30 PM EST
Opening Line: Miami -10.5
Current Line: Miami -8.5
Opening Total: 204.5
Current Total: 203
Opening Moneyline: Miami -450 / New York +370
Current Moneyline: Miami -450 / New York +350
To say the Miami Heat have got things together after a rough start would be a bold understatement. After opening the season with a mediocre 9-8 record, they have reeled off 14 out of 15 games and now sit only 2 games behind Boston for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
“We never had that arrogant part where we thought we were bigger than everybody else, but we were just very confident before we did anything. To have that humbling experience at the beginning of the season has helped us,” said Lebron James. James is averaging 34.5 points, 7.7 assists and 7.5 rebounds in 11 games versus the Knicks since the start of the 2007-08 season, and looks to have another big night tonight, but will face the tough defense of Wilson Chandler. Something about playing the Knicks seems to bring out the best in LeBron, though.
New York Knicks fans have been pleasantly surprised by the Knickerbockers, as well, though, as they are 18-12 (.600) and are in competition with the likes of Orlando, Atlanta, and Chicago for competitive seedings in the Eastern Conference. They held the Bulls and Thunder to a horrid 41.5% in their past two games and will seek to continue that defense against the Heat.
“We did a beautiful job defensively,” the Knicks’ Amar’e Stoudemire said. “We’ve been talking about defense now for the past – actually the whole year – but more so the past week about communicating, helping the helper, so it’s really showing.”
Some betting trends: New York has won 15 of their last 19 games and the total has gone UNDER In 4 of their past 6 on the road. They have won 8 of their last 9 road games, but have dropped their last 6 games to the Heat by an average of 14.5 points per game. The total has gone OVER in 6 of New York’s last 8 games against Miami. New York is 2-4 ATS in their last 6 in Miami.
Miami is 10-3-1 ATS in their last 14 games. The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Miami’s last 5 games and they have won 6 of their past 7 at home. They are 3-10-1 ATS in their last 14 home games and they have won 7 of their past 10 at home against the Knicks.
The key matchup for tonight’s game will be Wilson Chandler vs. Lebron James. As mentioned earlier, LeBron always seems to have his way with the Knicks, despite Chandler being a pretty good defender. LeBron will likely cover Galinari on the defensive end, as he is truly the Knicks small forward, but he just simply can’t cover someone like LeBron so the duty will go to Chandler. Look for LeBron to have another big game, if only because he loves tearing the heart out of Knicks’ fans. It is worth noting that the NBA Oddsmakers original pick of -10.5 has shifted since to -8.5.
