845 NEW YORK KNICKS -4.5 vs 846 Brooklyn
Analysis: This situation favors the Knicks as it has given interim coach Kurt Rambis more than a week to put together more of a game plan going forward after replacing Derek Fisher shortly before the All Star break. At one time the Knicks were 20-20 and thinking of the Playoffs as a realistic possibility. But a 110-104 loss on this court to the Nets on January 13 presaged the start of a sharp decline. That loss came following a stretch in which the Knicks had won 5 of 6, going 6-0 ATS. The Knicks followed the Nets loss with a loss at Memphis which was followed by a pair of wins to stand 22-22 on January 20. But since then the Knicks have gone just 1-10 SU (3-8 ATS). The Nets also made a coaching change prior to the All Star break but have not threatened to sniff the Playoffs all season. They start tonight 14-40 and suffer from a general lack of above average talent. In Kristaps Porzingas and Carmelo Anthony the Knicks have the two best players on the court. With both teams fresh following the long All Star break the Knicks' talent should enjoy a significant enough edge to justify laying the two baskets in what is really not much of a road trip going just a few miles south from Madison Square Garden to the Barclays Center where the Knicks likely will enjoy the bulk of the crowd support.