NBA: Golden State Warriors vs. New York Knicks Preview, Odds, Prediction

Steph Curry has a chance to take down Ray Allen’s three-point record at the iconic basketball arena, the Madison Square Garden. His Golden State Warriors are visiting the New York Knicks, and Steph is only two threes away from jumping over Allen. But not only that. The Warriors come to the Big Apple to make another statement and prove to the world that they aren’t kidding once talking about winning the title. As for the Knicks, they are in problems, and the team needs to regroup. Otherwise, they won’t even be in the playoffs.

Preview

Golden State Warriors (22-5, -170) played less than 24 hours ago, in Indianapolis, against the Pacers. It was their second game on tour through the East, with the first one ending with a defeat in Philly, 102-93. Last night, GSW squeezed out a win against the nasty Pacers, 102-100. The guests from the Bay Area flipped the result in the closing minute, snatching away the victory.

All the eyes were on Steph Curry, who is chasing Ray Allen’s record, but the top MVP contender failed to reach it. Nevertheless, Steph was the best scorer in his unit, dropping 26 points while getting six boards and assists each. The negative thing is that Curry missed 12 of his 20 shots, and lost seven possessions.

Other players were solid as well. Diamond Green had 15 points, nine boards and five assists, Wiggins the same number of buckets and five boards, while Kevin Looney ended the night with 14 buckets and eight rebounds. Overall, the Warriors have shot threes pretty bad, 26.7%, making 8 of 30 attempts.

New York Knicks (12-15, +150) have three consecutive losses. After losing to Indiana and the Raptors on the road, the Milwaukee Bucks dismantled the pale Knicks at Madison, 112-97. We just need to mention that this was the fourth straight defeat for the NYK at home.

All the trade talks are slowly starting to ruin already shaky chemistry inside the locker room, and we can see that on the floor. The Knicks fans and the media from NY are speculating on a daily basis about the new players, trades and those who are going to leave the team, which harms the team.

NYK opened the contest against the Bucks slowly, scoring 16 points in the first quarter, felling behind 10 points early on. Quentin Grimes was the best scorer in the home team with 27 buckets, dropping seven threes, Kevin Knox II contributed with 18 from the bench, while Derrick Rose had the same number of points.

Head to Head

The result in the series last year was 1-1, with both teams winning on the road, Knicks in San Francisco, 119-104, and the GSW in the Big Apple, 114-106.

Prediction

The Knicks are close to falling apart completely, and there isn’t the slightest doubt among us that the Warriors are going to use this convenience in the best possible way. Even though the Dub Nation isn’t playing like at the beginning of the campaign, NYK will be an easy task for them. The spread (-3.5) is way too thin for the guests, and we do expect them to cover it.

Pick: Warriors -3.5