NBA Pick #5: 709 Washington Wizards @ 710 New York Knicks
Rating: 4 units - Regular Play
Pick: Washington Wizards (-4.5) (Play up to -5)
Odds: -106 / 1.94 on Pinnacle Sports OR -110 / 1.91 on 5Dimes
The Knicks will be playing their third game in four nights, while Washington had three days off to rest for today, besides having Morris back tonight. Playing both Kanter and Beasley in the frontcourt is tough for the Knicks on defense, but now they "have" to use Mudiay on the backcourt as well. Hornacek is playing Mudiay and Ntilikina together on the backcourt... that's two guards whose shooting is poor, so their offense is also limited right now. Besides that, the Knicks' turnover rate has also increased a lot with 16 turnovers per game over the last four contests. This will be terrible against a Wizards team that has an aggressive defense that can create a lot of turnovers. Besides a loss on a back to back spot at Philadelphia, the Wizards have been playing very well lately and they've been winning their games with ease (even their home loss against Boston, if it wasn't for a stupid foul by Morris and they would have won that game as well), so I believe the difference between these two teams right now is a lot higher than just 4.5 points. Hence, I'll be taking the Wizards tonight.