The Knicks have reeled off three straight victories yet are still 7.5 games behind Boston in the Atlantic Division standings. Brooklyn has lost five of their last six and is returning from a three-game Western Conference road swing.
Please join me as I break this one down and share my best free NBA picks for Knicks vs. Nets on Tuesday, January 23.
Knicks vs. Nets Best Bets
New York Knicks -4 (-110) at Superbook
Superbook has the best number by far for a New York Knicks team that has been red-hot. They’ve covered the spread in their last three matchups with Brooklyn, and the Nets are not playing good basketball. Brooklyn is returning from a three-game road trip where they went 1-2 and 1-2-0 ATS in those three.
New York center Isiah Hartenstein left the Knicks’ last game with an ankle injury, and his status for tonight is up in the air. His absence will hurt New York’s interior defense, but the Knicks still have so much firepower and are 16-4 against teams like Brooklyn with a bottom 15 NET Rating.
They are also 19-1 straight-up against these teams, 7-0-0 ATS over their last seven away matchups against Eastern Conference teams, and they’ll cover the -4 (-110) at Superbook New Jersey.
OG Anunoby Over 14.5 points (-104) at FanDuel
Knicks forward OG Anunoby has been a breath of fresh air since being acquired recently in a trade with the Toronto Raptors. New York is 9-2 since acquiring the former Raptors star–they’ve benefitted from his defense, rebounding, and scoring.
The Knicks forward doesn’t enjoy the same amount of usage as he did with Toronto, but since joining New York, he is knocking down 51% from the field, 40% from downtown, and has cleared his scoring prop number in four of his previous five and in five of his last 10 games with the Knicks.
Brooklyn plays mediocre defense against the small forward position, and I expect the Knicks swingman to clear his scoring prop number tonight. Play Over 14.5 points (-104) at FanDuel New Jersey.
Jalen Brunson Under 28.5 points (+105) at DraftKings
For all their faults, and the Nets have many of them, they play very good perimeter defense, and Jalen Brunson will have difficulties clearing his prop number tonight at DraftKings.
Brunson has cleared his prop number in seven of his previous eight matchups. He’s been on fire for New York but has only cleared 28.5 points twice over 11 career games vs Brooklyn. Those two scoring outbursts came at the tail end of last season, but he scored 16 in his only meeting this season.
Finally, the Knicks don’t really need Brunson to score 30+ to beat Brooklyn. He’s been hot, but he’s due for some regression, and he’s not been historically good against the Nets. Take Brunson to score Under 28.5 points tonight (+105) at DraftKings New Jersey.
