New York Knicks vs Portland Trail Blazers Point Spread Picks

The Knicks are fat and happy right now with four straight wins and covers. The last was two days ago, when they blasted the Raptors 119-92 in Toronto. Following this home game against the Trail Blazers, the Knicks host the Lakers on Sunday in a nationally televised night game. So it would not surprise me if New York looked past Portland here. The Trail Blazers have lost three in a row. They desperately want to get back to their winning ways. Portland had won nine of its previous 11 games before this tailspin. Portland also has revenge for a 123-114 loss to the Knicks on Jan. 11, which halted a five-game win streak. Deni Avdija, the Trail Blazers' breakout star, left that game in the second half due to a back injury. Avdija is averaging 25.8 points per game, 7.2 rebounds, and 6.9 assists. The Trail Blazers have covered 56% of their games this season and are 14-10 (58%) ATS following a loss. They have also covered four of the last five times when getting more than six points. Take the Trail Blazers.

Talented New York is the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. They've split the last two games, routing the Clippers (123-111) before losing a close one at Phoenix (112-107). Karl-Anthony Towns had 15 points and 12 rebounds against the Suns and leads a defense that is 12th in points given up and 13th in shooting allowed, while the offense is sixth in scoring. Portland ranks 24th in points given up and 17th in shooting allowed. The Blazers are getting outscored on the season, and the Knicks have won the last three meetings against Portland by an average of 9.6 points. Play the New York Knicks. 

Portland plays the second of a five-game road trip. The trek got off to a bad start scoring 107 points in a loss at Sacramento shooting 39.8%. The offense is 22nd in points scored, 25th in shooting, 23rd in 3-point shooting, and 25th from the free-throw line. New York has won three of four, allowing an average of 112.2 points, part of a 10-7 run UNDER the total. Leading scorer Jalen Brunson (26.3 ppg) will be out again and the backcourt also has injuries to Cam Payne and Deuce McBride. Take Portland/New York UNDER the total.

The Knicks go into Portland as a 4-point favorite despite losing three out of their past four games. The fingers point directly to New York's sputtering offense. The Knicks have suffered a late-season slump on the scoreboard, averaging 109.9 points in their past nine games compared to a 118.3 average before that. Portland has seen three of its past five games stay UNDER, and these two have historically played lower than expected totals, as the Blazers are 29-17 to the UNDER in their last 46 games vs. the Knicks. Make the play UNDER the total.

New York demolished the Trail Blazers 112-84 on Jan. 9 and look for more of the same in tonight's rematch as the Knicks have been playing sensational defense recently. The Knicks have held their past three opponents below 80 points, which is remarkable in this day and age and they come off a 106-79 annihilation of Philadelphia on Tuesday. Josh Hart had 20 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists and OG Anunoby scored 14 points as he returned from an 18-game absence. Portland has the second-worst record in the Western Conference and is only 14-20 ATS at home while New York is 16-13-1 ATS on the road. The Trail Blazers are 0-6 ATS as home underdogs of 5.0-10.5 points and 9-23-1 ATS at home versus teams with winning road records. New York is 16-5 ATS on the road against opponents with losing home records and 35-17 ATS overall as a road favorite. Take the Knicks.