As the 2015-16 NBA Regular Season rolls on in the 2nd half of the season many teams are seeking spots in the playoffs, and tonight we have an interesting game between 2 Eastern Conference rivals with the 32-26 Miami Heat playing at the 25-35 New York Knicks with the game being played at the Madison Square Garden in New York, New York with tip-off scheduled for 7:40 PM ET.
If your Bet on NBA basketball the early odds for this game have the Miami Heat favored by a mere -1 with the Over/under at 198 and -115 on the Money Line, while the New York Knicks are slight underdogs at +1 and +105 on the Money Line. In this game tonight at South Beach a former shooting guard for the Nets of Brooklyn will be playing tonight in a jersey of the Miami Heat, in a game that the Knicks seek a win over the Heat who presently lead 2-1 their series.
For the fans that will bet on the 32-26 Miami Heat, you know your team has just finished a 3 game win streak and now have moved into a losing streak, and they seek to win this game tonight to end a 2 game streak of losses at the Garden, where the Heat in their ultimate 4 games at the Garden they are with 4 wins and no losses straight up.
Now playing for the Heat is their new acquisition from the Nets of Brooklyn in J. Johnson, a 7 time All-Star who negotiated a buyout win the Nets. He certainly is a valuable addition to the Heat team that has been 1 of the lowest scoring teams in the NBA this season only averaging some 97.3 points each game and ranked at 28th overall in the league. Before joining the Heat, guard Johnson for the Nets was averaging 11.9 points each game with a 41.2 percentage of completions.
Unfortunately the Heat has had 2 straight losses with the 1st coming this past Wednesday to the Warriors of Golden State 118-112 and then on Saturday they lost 101-89 to the Celtics of Boston. The Heat struggled with star C. Bosh out with injury they sought a stepped up performance by D. Wade who lately had been playing well, and in his ultimate 5 games he has averaged some 22.4 points each game. In their previous 3 games with New York C. Bosh and in their game back on the 6th of January they scored 50 points and the Knicks scored 48 in the paint, but the Heat lost that game 98-90.
The Heat also sought help from Whiteside who has averaged in his ultimate 4 games some 19.6 points with 17.4 rebounds, and blocked 4.5 shots in those 4 games. With him in the lineup the Heat should make it more difficult for the Knicks to score in the paint, as presently they rank last in the NBA this season with just 36.6 scored in the paint each game to date.
If you’re a fan of the 25-35 New York Knicks, your team has struggled since C. Bosh was injured and that is good news for New York, as previously the Knicks struggled in halting Bosh in their ultimate 3 games with Miami as Bosh in their 3 games with the Knicks averaged some 21.4 points each game.
Also the Knicks defense has not performed up to par lately, as in their ultimate 7 games they have allowed opponents to score some 106 points in those 7 games. However, this past Friday they did hold the Magic to a 41.8 percent shooting from the field and won that game on their home court 108-95.
Offensively the Knicks are seeking a lot from K. Porzingis and C. Anthony, with Porzingis who has been averaging some 17.3 points in his ultimate 8 games, and that included in their game with the Magic in which he scored 18 points in that game. Meanwhile Anthony, the veteran has averaged in his ultimate 9 games some 10.2 rebounds and scoring 21.8 points in those games, and in their last game with Miami back in January he scored some 25 points as he made 9 of his 12 attempts in that game. Another player that has made a comeback in their last 2 games is J. Calderon who has scored a combined 34 points in those games. The Knicks in their ultimate 4 games they are with 3 wins and 1 loss against the spread.
The sportsbook prediction for this game between Eastern Conference rivals will see the Knicks of Miami overcome the Miami Heat and win this game 102-96 tonight!