In the second game of a home back-to-back, the Rockets host the New York Knicks on Sunday night at Toyota Center. Houston enters coming off Saturday’s blowout loss to Golden State.
Led by All-Star forward Julius Randle, the Knicks head into town with plenty of momentum, having won 10 of their last 11 games to rise to No. 4 in the Eastern Conference standings. However, they will need to navigate their own back-to-back, since they play at Memphis on Monday.
New York is the better team on paper and also has more to play for, since three teams are within two games of them for that No. 4 spot in the East and home-court advantage in the first round of the 2021 playoffs. However, the Rockets have been a lively underdog of late, as evidenced by Thursday’s victory over Milwaukee — the team just in front of the Knicks in the tightly packed East standings.
In the only other meeting between the teams this season, New York routed Houston on February 13 at Madison Square Garden, 121-99 (recap). The Rockets shot just 8-of-43 (18.6%) on 3-pointers that night in the fifth loss of what would become a historic 20-game losing streak.
The lines, courtesy of BetMGM
- Point spread: Knicks -11
- Money line: Knicks -600 / Rockets +425
- Over-under: 216.5
- Player scoring props: Julius Randle 26.5, RJ Barrett 19.5; Houston TBD
Place your legal, online sports bets in VA, CO, IA, IN, NJ, PA, TN and WV at BetMGM.
As usual in an injury plagued 2020-21 season, the Rockets will be quite short-handed. For Saturday’s game, John Wall (right hamstring) DJ Augustin (left ankle), Sterling Brown (left knee), Dante Exum (right calf), Eric Gordon (right groin), Danuel House Jr. (right ankle), and David Nwaba (right wrist) were all out. Houston won’t issue Sunday’s injury report until hours before tipoff, due to the back-to-back. The Knicks are far healthier, listing only Mitchell Robinson (out, right foot surgery) on their report.
Advice and prediction
New York is expected to start Elfrid Payton, RJ Barrett, Reggie Bullock, Julius Randle, and Nerlens Noel, while Houston will likely stick with its recent starters of Kevin Porter Jr., Armoni Brooks, Jae’Sean Tate, Kelly Olynyk, and Christian Wood.
The Knicks have more to play for, but they also have to be mindful of a game on Monday, whereas the Rockets don’t play again until Wednesday. That may provide a path for Houston to cover the large number late.
Prediction: Knicks 115, Rockets 105
Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire.
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