Things are going from bad to worse for the New York Knicks as they stumbled to yet another loss Thursday against the Houston Rockets. To make matters worse, they now face the red-hot Charlotte Hornets who are on a four-game win streak.
Read on below for a preview of this matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers here.
[sc:NBAArticles ]Charlotte Hornets vs. New York Knicks Betting Preview
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
When: Saturday, January 10, 2015, 1:00 PM ET
Line: Charlotte Hornets vs. New York Knicks – view all NBA lines
Betting on the Charlotte Hornets
Don’t look now, but the Charlotte Hornets are starting to make a move in the Eastern Conference.
[sc:NBA240banner ]The Hornets rolled to their fourth straight victory with a stunning 103-95 win over the Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night. The Hornets are now 14-24 for the season and just two games behind Miami for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
It has been a quite a turnaround for the Hornets who had lost five consecutive games prior to their four-game unbeaten run. Key to the Hornets’ sudden resurgence is the excellent play of Kemba Walker. He is averaging 30.8 points per game in Charlotte’s last four outings. He was superb Thursday against the Raptors, scoring 29 points, while also grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out eight assists.
Joining in the scoring parade was Gerald Henderson who scored a season-high 31 points. That’s way above his season average of 9.3 points per game. They will be licking their chops at the prospect of facing a Knicks defense that is allowing a total of 101.6 points per game, 10th-worst in the league this season.
The Hornets are 3-0 in their last three road games.
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Betting on the New York Knicks
There appears to be no end to the Knicks’ losing woes. The Knicks stumbled to their 14th consecutive defeat Thursday, a 120-96 humiliation at the hands of the Houston Rockets. That is now the longest single-season losing streak in the Knicks’ 69-year history.
It’s incredible, but as we enter the halfway point of the season, the Knicks now own the league’s worst record at 5-34. So what went wrong with this proud and storied franchise?
Chief among the Knicks’ problems this season is their anemic offense. The Knicks are second-worst in the league in scoring this season, averaging just 93.2 points per game. In fact, in their game against the Rockets, the Knicks established another record in futility as they have now lost 11 consecutive games at home without scoring 100 points.
Unfortunately for coach Derek Fisher, help is not on the way. Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, his two leading scorers, are still out injured. And with the season starting to look like a lost cause, the two veterans may be done for the year.
With that being said, it is the perfect opportunity for the lesser-known players to make a name for themselves in the NBA. That certainly was the case Thursday against the Rockets when a slew of unheralded players stepped up big time off the bench.
Rookie Travis Wear scored a season-high 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Langston Galloway and Cleanthony Early also contributed, chipping in 19 and 16 points, respectively. These three players are expected to play a bigger role for the Knicks against the Hornets on Saturday.
The Knicks are 4-1 in their last five meetings with the Hornets at Madison Square Garden.
Writer’s Prediction
The Hornets crush the Knicks, 100-79.
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