New York Knicks at San Antonio Spurs 2011 NBA Preview, Odds, and Predictions: Head coach Mike D’Antoni will lead the New York Knickerbockers on the road to the AT&T Center to take on the NBA’s best record San Antonio Spurs on Friday night at 8:05 PM ET on ESPN. The Knicks are on a 4 game losing skid and enter the game at 22-19 2nd in the Atlantic while the Spurs sport the NBA’s best record at 36-6 and have quietly won another 7 in a row and come in at 1st in the Southwest. The Spurs are keeping their winning streak alive with good defense and have won more than 10 in a row 2 different times this season. “In the second half we got back in the game because we played very, very good team defense,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. “Those stops generated offense, and that was the ballgame.” The Knicks are a score first and fast team and tends to have breakdowns on defense that leads them to losses. “We didn’t bring the effort defensively, from the start,” Knicks All-Star Amare Stoudemire said. “They pretty much got what they wanted.” The odds makers at BetUS have the San Antonio Spurs a -8 ½ point favorite at home against the New York Knicks.
San Antonio is coming off a 104-95 home victory over the Toronto Raptors to move to an impressive 25-16-1 ATS for the season. Guard Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 23 points 4 rebounds and 7 assists while center DeJuan Blair added 22 points and 11 boards. Starters Tony Parker poured in 17 points with 5 boards and 5 dimes while Tim Duncan chipped in 10 points and 12 rebounds. Grant Hill came off the bench to add 14 points and 6 rebounds as well as his usually stellar defense. Vegas odds makers have the San Antonio Spurs +600 to win the 2010-2011 NBA Championship.
The Knicks dropped their last game 104-89 on the road to the Houston Rockets falling to a still respectable 25-15-1 ATS for the season. Center Amare Stoudemire led the Knicks with 25 points and 5 boards for his 26th consecutive game with 20 or more points for the Knicks. The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 7 games when playing on the road against San Antonio. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 212 points combined of the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.
I predict a Spurs victory at home.
Note: Rich Fritz is a Blog Writer on NSAwins.com and not a pro handicapper. For expert NFL Football Predictions against the Vegas spreads please visit the NSAwins.com homepage for top predictions today from the National Sports Advisors.