by Hillary LaClair, Senior Editor
December 10, 2008
After last year’s NBA season, where we saw an amazing comeback from the Boston Celtics, it’s not so surprising to witness the rise of another underdog. Even still, the online sports betting community wasn’t expecting to see the New Jersey Nets as one of the star teams this year.
There is a particular interest in the upcoming match between the Nets and the New York Knicks because of this, as the Knicks are one of the highest scoring teams in their league and revered in the NBA. However, the Knicks have not been on their game as of late. Betting trends show that the Knicks are 9-12 SU, 11-10 ATS and 9-12 O/U this season compared to the Nets who stand at 11-8 SU, 12-7 ATS and 9-10 O/U.
The Nets are expected to hand the Knicks a second consecutive loss in their meeting, with point guard Devin Harris as the star player. Harris accounted for eight assists and four steals in Saturday’s game against Philadelphia, scoring 27 of 95 points to Philadelphia’s 84, all while having the flu.
“He pushed through it, and that’s a credit to him and his toughness,” commented Lawrence Frank. “We talked before the game about laying it all on the line because we (had) three days off before.”
The Nets were lucky to acquire Harris last season, trading Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks for him. He leads the league with a 9-3 record since an ankle injury which left him to sit out for three games. He averages 24.4 points and 6.1 assists.
“I wasn’t feeling that great and I didn’t warm up at all,” Harris said. “But once you get a couple of shots to drop, it seems to open up a bit more.”
The Knicks are not celebrating the same victory, however, having recently suffered a narrow loss to the Chicago Bulls at 105-100. They’ve given up an average of 106.4 point per game away from home. While up in the fourth quarter by five points, Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni optimistically explains, “We ran out of gas a little bit toward the end. But I was really happy with the effort and what we did for most of the game. We’ll get better.”
The total has gone under in 4 of 6 of the Knicks’ last games. NY is 5-16 SU in their last 21 games against the Nets, 4-13 SU in their last 17 road games against the Nets and 1-4 SU in their last 5 games. The Nets are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games and the total has gone under in 4 of their last 5 games. When playing the Knicks, the Nets are 13-4 SU in the last 17 games.
It is expected then, that online sportsbooks have placed the New Jersey Nets as their favorite, with odds of -9 – 110, compared to the +9 – 110 applied to the Knicks. Over/Under odds are at an even 216 – 110.
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