The New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies are both 38-20 and fighting for a top-three seed in their respective conferences heading into Friday’s night matchup in Memphis.
New York dominated in the first matchup between these teams, but overall it has struggled against teams that are OVER .500 in the 2024-25 campaign.
Meanwhile, Memphis is one of the best home teams in the NBA, going 22-6 in 28 games.
Oddsmakers have set the Knicks as road dogs in this matchup, especially after they failed to cover as massive favorites at home against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.
Here’s a breakdown of the odds, players to watch in the prop market and my best bet for Friday’s contest.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Spread
Moneyline
Total
Memphis plays at one of the fastest paces in the NBA, so there should be a ton of possessions for Brunson to rack up numbers on Friday night.
The Knicks All-Star is averaging 26.1 points and a career-high 7.4 assists per game in the 2024-25 season. With both Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns, Brunson may be asked to carry a massive load on the offensive end tonight.
This could end up as a great matchup for Zach Edey, as the Knicks are down Ariel Hukporti and Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson are listed as questionable on Friday night.
Edey is averaging 7.7 rebounds per game, and he had 11 rebounds in less than 20 minutes against the Knicks earlier this season.
So far this season, Memphis is an impressive 16-9 against the spread as a home favorite, and it should be able to score a ton of points on a Knicks defense that is among the worst in the NBA during the month of February.
In fact, New York has a defensive rating of 127 this season – which would be by far the worst mark in the league – when Karl-Anthony Towns is on the floor against a top-10 offense.
That’s simply not going to get it done against a Grizzlies team that loves to push the pace and still ranks in the top-10 in the league in defensive rating.
Plus, the Knicks have struggled as road underdogs (2-4 against the spread), which is in line with their issues against teams over .500.
I’ll take the points with Memphis tonight.
Pick: Grizzlies -3 (-110 at DraftKings)
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Find Peter Dewey’s NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.
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