3) The Knicks vs. the spread in the past several games. How do they really look...?
Let's look at that. At first glance, it's not pretty.
They did not cover against the Kings as 6 point favorites and lost outright in OT.
But let's take a closer look at that game. The Knicks opened a 33-22 lead in that game and held a double digit lead for a sizable portion of it.
What happened? They dared Jimmer Fredette to beat them. And beat them he did. It's precisely the epitome of Knicks arrogance to leave the little outside shooter open the whole game and let him burn you for a career high.
The point is, the Knicks are who we thought they were in that game. They came out as we expected them to. The problem was that the line was too high (-6 Knicks) and the one guy who they left open killed them. That ended in an OT loss for a Kings team that was desperate for a win even with Cousins out of the game (which really helped rally the Kings instead of hurt them!).
When you have a bad team like the Knicks, even in non-covers you have to look for morsels of positives in their games. There were some here.
The game before that?
The Thunder at OKC.
They lost against the spread +10 112-100. Where was the positive? The positive was that they didn't get the doors blown off them at the 1pm (12pm body clock time EST) early start time. I have a thread dedicated to this. They have been MAULED in these early start times against the best (the spurs) and the worst (the celtics). It didn't matter who they played. They lost BIG.
Well getting to within TWO of the spread in an early start time is an accomplishment for this awful early game Knicks team. Moreover, Carmelo had one of his WORST games of the year for him and the Knicks still only were outside the number by 2.
Again, search for positives and dig deeper in what are on its face, apparent negatives, when it comes to bad teams.
There are positives in the Thunder non-cover.
The Nuggets blowout I posted was before that game (Knicks +1.5 and they won by 27)
Lastly, the Blazers were before that game. They didn't cover by 1 losing by 4 94-90 (Blazers -3).
What was the positive? A Carmelo putback at the buzzer would have covered that number. And a furious rally to end that game when they were down by 11 enabled them to get within one of the number.
So really in their last 4 games ATS, they are 1-3 but could easily be 2-2 if not 3-1.
There is an argument there when you dig.
Why dig? We have to take them ATS against the Grizz and the number matters.
We dug and it's there. Take the Knicks.
Are we done? Hell no.
4) Carmelo and the All-Star game.
This is short and sweet but it's worth mentioning. Carmelo came within a hair of being the all-star MVP but it went to Kyrie. Why is that a good thing? Melo got to be on a national stage where the lights are bright, hit a record number of threes, and the MVP ultimately escaped him. Do not think that wouldn't push this spread down at least .5 point if he did get it. You can debate me on it but the Knicks are a public team and after '62', any Melo performance has the books scared that he will take over and destroy their line. He can do that.
But, what happened? He got his batteries charged in that he performed in the game (scored 30) and got to rub elbows with the players he sees as his counterparts.
Even Tim Hardaway Jr. got to be with his father in a challenge before that.
This is a small thing but for the Knicks and this game when we back them, small things matter. The Knicks need encouragement. They need something to feel good in a season of misery. The all-star game representation and performance did that for their best player and maybe even a bench player. That matters and that FAR OUTWEIGHS any wear and tear and/or travel fatigue Melo had to go through.
And the Grizz representation in the game itself? 0 players just to note it.
Advantage Knicks backers. Take the Knicks.
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