The Cleveland Cavaliers (15-8) visit Madison Square Garden Sunday to face the New York Knicks (10-13). Tip-off is at 6 p.m. ET (NBA TV).
New York is on the 2nd of a back-to-back after facing the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. To the Knick’s credit, the 1.5-point underdogs did lead at halftime 59-52. But New York has not been good against the 3 and Dallas made 24 of 61, winning 121-100.
Cleveland, led by G Donovan Mitchell’s 34 points, covered a 10.5-point spread in beating the Orlando Magic 107-96 Thursday and will try for its 3rd straight win. The Cavaliers are now 10-1 at home and sit 3rd in the Eastern Conference. New York is 4-7 at home.
Cavaliers at Knicks odds
- Moneyline (ML): Cavaliers -150 (bet $150 to win $100) | Knicks +130 (bet $100 to win $130)
- Against the spread (ATS): Cavaliers -3.5 (-105) | Knicks +3.5 (-115)
- Over/Under (O/U): 221.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
Cavaliers at Knicks key injuries
Cavaliers
- C Jarrett Allen (back) out
Knicks
- G Ryan Official NBA injury report.
Cavaliers at Knicks picks and predictions
Prediction
Cavaliers 117, Knicks 106
Moneyline
Cleveland not only comes into the Garden as the favorite, but on top of that teams playing without rest (like the Knicks Sunday) are 48-61 straight up this year. The Cavaliers are 5th in opponent effective field goal percentage while the Knicks are the 3rd worse against.
BET CAVALIERS (-150)
Against the spread
New York has a winning ATS record on no rest (2-1). Cleveland recently has had trouble on the road, failing to cover in their last 7 road games (0-6-1). That being said I see this is a proper get-right spot for the Cavaliers.
LEAN CAVALIERS -3.5 (-105).
Over/Under
The Cavaliers rank 3rd in 3-point percentage and the Knicks are last in the league in opponent 3-point field goal attempts. Also the Over has hit in 5 of the last 6 games in Madison Square Garden.
BET OVER 221.5 (-115)