NBA Free Premiu Pick: 577 Houston Rockets @ 578 New York Knicks
Rating: 4 Units – Regular Play
Pick: 578 New York Knicks (+10)
Odds: -109 / 1.92 on Pinnacle
Houston is coming from a huge win @BOS and with their next game being at home vs. Clippers, I expect the Rockets to relax a bit in this game vs. lowly Knicks team.
The small ball version of the Rockets have been great but they have their flaws, most notably, they were #29 ranked during the month of February in defensive rebounding and they allow plenty of shots of the rim: all because they really play short lineups.
The Knicks have been inconsistent as usual, but they are really imposing their size edge in the matchups, and I expect them to punish the Rockets in these 2 areas. They were the best offensive rebounding team in the league last month & ranked #2 in vol% of shots taken at the rim. That’s a good matchup vs. HOU.
In the last game against CHI (like I’ve said before, HOU was #29 ranked in def. reb% in February…and the Bulls were #30), the Knicks grabbed 17 offensive boards (58.8% reb/rate) and scored 76 (!) Points in the paint!
With Rockets primed for a “relax spot”, I expect this contest to be a fun game to watch: HOU will dominate @ perimeter while the Knicks will dominate @ boards & frontcourt.