NBA Betting Picks: Oklahoma City @ New York
Added on Feb 20, 2010 by Jack Thurman in
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Big day of action at the sportsbooks with a ton of basketball games plus soccer, the Olympics, UFC and more. We’ll look for a good NBA betting opportunity as the Oklahoma City Thunder head to New York to take on the Knicks. The Thunder is one of the hottest teams in the NBA, the Knicks? Not so much.
Oklahoma City Thunder at New York Knicks
February 20, 4:05 PM Pacific
The Thunder and the Knicks both returned to play following the All Star Break much in the same way that they had entered it. The Thunder beat Dallas at home, while the Knicks lost twice to Chicago. Oklahoma City has won seven straight and is now tied for 5th place in the Western Conference. The Knicks have lost five straight and 8 of 10 and are well off the playoff pace. The Knicks shook up their lineup at the NBA trade deadline, acquiring Tracy McGrady and Eddie House. While it was mostly a move to free up even more cap space, some new blood can’t hurt a stagnant team especially McGrady who may respond to being on the big stage in NYC.
Ultimately, this is a simple contrarian play. The Thunder have been money in the bank on the road this season with a 19-7 ATS mark. If you know anything about the linemaking process you know that the last thing bookmakers want to have is teams that cover (or don’t cover) every time in certain situations. Even if the team in question doesn’t do anything to reverse that form, the linesmakers will adjust the pointspread in those situations against them until their ATS mark starts to turn around. That was the case in Philadelphia last night, where the Sixers have been nothing but a ‘go against’ at home YTD and that’s the case here. The Thunder are a very talented young team, but we’re not sure they’re at the point where they should be favored by 6 on the road. The Knicks are 8-4 SU/ATS against the Thunder (and previously the Sonics) on their own floor, and we look for a reversal of form by OKC on the road even if its a function of their lines being adjusted and not any erosion in their quality of play.
Bet NY Knicks +6 over Oklahoma City
