Golden State at New York
Time: 6:30 PM CT (NBA TV)
Spread: GSW -12
Total: 229
Odds c/o 5dimes
The Golden State Warriors have the league’s longest winning streak at 12 games and counting and will travel to face the 24-37 New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, where New York has posted a 16-13 record this season.
The Warriors are 12-point favorites in the game which will air at 6:30 PM (CT) on NBA TV as the first half of a Monday night NBA TV double header.
Golden State notes:
The Warriors most recently pummeled Russell Westbrook and the OKC Thunder 112-80. Prior to that it defeated the L.A. Clippers. The Dubs are 46-14 and currently atop the Western Conference.
The Warriors could have sought to improve at the trade deadline, but instead with the “do not fix what is not broken” adage in not engaging at the deadline. Instead, the team moves forward with its four All-Stars, and two MVPs, as the prohibitive NBA Finals favorite for the fourth straight season (albeit only two of the previous three resulted in a title!). The Warriors have strung together the most dominant three-run season stretch in NBA history, per wins only, and the fact that the front office realized there is no tinkering with something already balanced was a mature and wise decision overall.
Stephen Curry is leading the team in scoring this year with 26.8 points per game, to go with his 5.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.62 steals per night. Durant trails him at 26 points per game, but Durant is really close to having a 50/40/90 season, as he is shooting 51 percent from the floor, 42 percent from three and 89 percent at the line. Thompson, too, is close to that precipice, but falls shorter at the charity stripe where he is just 86 percent.
Draymond Green is only attempting nine field goals per game, but he leads the team in assists with 7.3 per game, and he is vital in defending a myriad of switched pick and rolls on defense, having the foot speed and agility to switch out onto guards and defend them in the isolation that follows.
Green is one of the best defenders to come through the league in recent seasons, and his stellar ability to disrupt sets is one of the reasons why the Warriors are such a strong defensive team overall. He keeps the defensive lineup active and fast, rather than slowing it down with a traditional 5. Green,of course, starts at center, but he has a lot of positionless traits as an NBA player, and perhaps the league has not seen such a physical specimen with such grace since the late Anthony Mason. Indeed, they are similar type players.
New York Knicks notes:
New York has a much less rosy outlook with Porzingis’ career hanging in the balance. Porzingis has the unenviable task of rehabbing from an ACL injury, which is the type of injury that can cast a permanent shadow over one’s career. Given that he was really the best thing the Knicks had on its roster since Patrick Ewing, Knicks fans are understandably crestfallen and downtrodden. New York is just 7-23 on the road this season, and the remainder of the year will serve as little more than a chance to get big playing time for the younger players on the roster.
Combo guard Emmanuel Mudiay came to New York Via Denver, and he now auditions with Frank Ntilikina for the point guard job. Although, the pair is playing extensively together. Given that the Knicks only can hurt themselves by winning games, expect Jeff Hornacek to tinker a lot with the lineup and just attempt to find things that work.
Center Enes Kanter will keep getting buckets, and Tim Hardaway Jr. is a threat always at the 3-spot but other than that New York’s roster is full of holes and question marks—and poor defense. The losses likely will pile up as the Knicks position itself for a high lottery pick, sans Porzingis.
