NBA Betting Odds: New York Knicks at Miami Heat

Added on Dec 28, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

The Miami Heat are finally playing up to their potential and are starting to challenge the Boston Celtics for the best record in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. The Knicks are vastly improved, and are 6 games above .500. Amare Stoudemire has been even better than anticipated and is putting together a MVP level campaign.

New York Knicks at Miami Heat
December 28, 2010 4:35 PM Pacific

There’s definitely a good case to be made for the Knicks in this spot–the Heat beat them 113-91 at Madison Square Garden on December 17 and Miami is coming off the huge Christmas Day win over the LA Lakers. The Knicks have been a great investment on the road (12-3 ATS) and as an underdog (11-2 ATS). They’re also 7-3 ATS against opponents with winning records. The Knicks last played on Christmas Day, so they should be well rested.

That being said, we’re going to back the Heat here. The concern about a letdown off the LA game is valid, but it’s not like this team isn’t used to dealing with pressure and high expectations. They’re the biggest ‘public’ team in the NBA and yet they’ve won 15 of 17 SU going 10-6-1 ATS. The biggest component of Miami’s turnaround has been their improved defense and they held the Knicks to 39.3% shooting in the previous meeting. Miami is 6-1 SU/5-2 ATS against New York since 2008 and LeBron James always likes to put on a show for the country’s biggest media market as evidenced by the 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists he dropped on the Knicks in the earlier meeting. There are several potential ‘flat spots’ for the Heat over the coming weeks facing a couple of uninspiring non-conference foes in Golden State and Houston. Against the Knicks, however, we expect them to take care of business.

Bet Miami Heat -8′ over New York Knicks