by Ultimatecapper.com Staff
First place visits last place tonight when the New Jersey Netsbustle off to take on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
New Jersey leads the Atlantic Division by four games over Philadelphia,and holds down the number three seed in the Eastern Conference.
New York, on the other end, is bringing up the rear in the Atlanticwith the second-worst record in the NBA.
The Nets have won three games in a row after beating Orlandoas an 11-point home favorite 96-93 Wednesday.
The Knicks, on the other hand, have gone in the tank, losing17 of their last 19 games. New York lost 10 games in a row beforebeating Toronto just before the All-Star break, then opened the"second half" of the season with a 20-point home loss to MiamiWednesday.
The Knicks acquired guard Steve Francis (16 ppg) from Orlandoearlier this week, and he is expected to make his New York debuttonight. He'll team with Stephon Marbury, who played 30 minutesWednesday after missing eight games, in the Knick backcourt.
New Jersey is 26-27 against the spread this season; 13-14 atsas a favorite, 12-16 straight up on the road and 13-15 ats awayfrom home.
New York is 24-29 ats this season; 18-18 ats as a dog, 11-16straight up at home and 12-15 ats at MSG.
The Nets have won 12 of the last 14 match-ups with the Knicks,including six of the last seven in New York. In the last meeting,New Jersey beat the visiting Knicks 96-83 two weeks ago in a gamethat wasn't even that close.
New York is allowing 101 points per game, fifth-worst in theNBA. They've also used more different starting line-ups than anyother team in the league.
The Nets are averaging 23 assists and just 13 turnovers pergame. But while no team in the league has a negative assist-to-turnoverratio, the Knicks come closest at 17.5 to 16.7.
The over is 31-22 in Knick games this season, but eight of theirlast nine games have stayed under. And the under in Net gamesis 22-30.
The Ultimatecapper Opinion: The Knicks aren't getting any respect because of their recent play. Not only can the cover the 4.5 points, they have a shot of winning this one straight up.
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