Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA – Photo by Icon sport
New York Knicks vs Cleveland Cavaliers: A rematch of last year’s first playoff round
The Cleveland Cavaliers are hosting the New York Knicks on Sunday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The Knicks are struggling lately
The New York Knicks are fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 35-25 record. They have lost three of the last four games and are coming off a 110-99 loss to the Golden State Warriors. The Knicks are ninth in the league, allowing 13.5 three-pointers per game, and 20th, scoring 113.5 points per game. Jalen Brunson is the best player on the Knicks this season, averaging 27.7 points and 6.7 assists per game.
The Cavaliers are having a promising season
The Cleveland Cavaliers are second in the Eastern Conference with a 39-20 record. They have won three of the last four games and are coming off a 110-100 win over the Detroit Pistons. The Cavs are second in the league, allowing 109.6 points per game, and fourth, allowing 45.4% shooting from the field. Donovan Mitchell leads the Cavaliers with 28 points per game for the season.
Betting Trends
Cleveland is 1-7 ATS in the last 8 games overall, 1-6 ATS in the last 7 games against teams from the Eastern Conference and 1-4 ATS in the last 5 games as favorites. The Knicks are 1-10 ATS in the last 11 games overall, 1-4 ATS in the last five games against teams from the Eastern Conference and 3-6 ATS in the last 9 games against teams from the Central Division.
Prediction and Conclusion
Both teams have had solid seasons, being among the top four teams in the Eastern Conference. They met in last year’s opening playoff round, when the Knicks won in five games despite the fact that the Cavs had the home-court advantage. The Cavaliers have learned the lesson and are much better this season. Recently, they had a nine-game winning streak and were -5.5-point favorites going into this game. The Knicks have won 8 of the last 10 games against Cleveland and have covered the spread in 8 of the last 10 against them, but the Cavs are going to pay them back tonight. With Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson out for the Knicks, the Cavs will dominate under the rim and win by covering the given spread.
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