NBA: Los Angeles Lakers VS New York Knicks Pick and Predictions 01/31/2023

Game: 7:30 PM ET,  Tuesday, January 31st, 2023

Venue: The Garden, Manhattan, New York

TV: TNT

Lakers: 23-27, 13th place Western Conference

Knicks: 27-24, 7th place Eastern Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Knicks -1.5, O/U 231.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Knicks -2, O/U 232

Fanduel: Point Spread: Knicks -1.5, O/U 232

Lakers: PF Rui Hachimura, SF Troy Brown Jr, C Thomas Bryant, PG Dennis Schroder, SG Patrick Beverley

Knicks: PG Jalen Brunson, SG Quentin Grimes, SF RJ Barrett, PF Julius Randle, C Jericho Sims

A West Vs East matchup where the East will be favored, but the West could possibly field a better roster if everyone plays?  But will everyone play?  The Los Angeles Lakers took a hard loss to the Boston Celtics in the game before last… The closeness was compounded by a missed foul call on PF LeBron James that would have surely allowed the Lakers to win at the foul line.  Instead the game went to overtime and the Lakers lost.  So, what do the Lakers do as they are getting further and further mired in 13th place ( while owing their draft pick to the Pelicans this year in a swap)?... Well they rest LeBron the next night against the Knicks (while Anthony Davis is still yet to return) and watch the Lakers get manhandled for their 3rd loss in 4 games.  The team that took down those Lakers were the Brooklyn Nets… happens to also have been the team that took down tonight’s home team The New York Knicks in their last game. The Knicks are faring much better  than the Lakers this season.  For the Knicks Power Forward Julius Randle is a rock and new PG Jalen Brunson is a revelation. Add to that both depth and room to grow during the coming trade deadline… and the Knicks are ready for whichever Lakers come into the arena tonight.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 4 of their last 10 games and are on a 2-game losing streak.  They lost their last game to the Brooklyn Nets 121-104.  They were playing without LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Austin Reeves… a formula this Lakers team will not be able to overcome against anyone.  It is unknown if LeBron or AD will suit up for the Knicks game.

The New York Knicks have won 5 of their last 10 games.  They lost their last game to the Brooklyn Nets 122-115 and have had a few days of rest since. In that loss PG Jalen Brunson had 26 points, SF RJ Barrett had 24 points, and PF Julius Randle had a 19 point, 10 rebound, and 8 assist night… It was just not enough to hold off Kyrie Irving and his 32, 6, 9 night.  The Knicks are healthy and have some solid players… but for a Tom Thibodeau team they are oddly not entirely ready on the defensive end.

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The Lakers are 6th in scoring with 116.8 points per game, 5th in rebounds with 45.1 per game, but they drop all the way to 26th in the league in 3 point percentage with 33.7%... On defense they give up almost two more points than they score a game while ranking 27th in the league and letting 118.2 get by.

The Knicks are 16th in the league in scoring with 114.3 points per game, 3rd in the league in rebounds with 47.3 per game, They shoot 34.5% from 3 for 23rd in the league… and on defense they rank 12th by holding teams to 112.4 points per game… with Mitchell Robinson and Julius Randle on the frontline and Tom Thibodeau as the Head Coach you would expect this team to be top ten in that category at least…. But they are 3rd best in defense of field goal percentage by holding teams to 45.3%... It may just be a matter of improving defensive rebounds and limiting second shots. 

Our prediction for Tuesday, January 31st is…. Knicks 118 - Lakers 114

Bet on the Knicks.  Something went horribly wrong with the Lakers in the loss to Boston and they seem crushed.  The Lakers will also be working in real time to try to integrate Rui Hachimura with LeBron (if he plays)... and possibly trying to shake the rust off of C Anthony Davis in limited minutes.  That is too much chaos to put your money on a road underdog.

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New York is 2-0 ATS versus the Lakers at New York the last 3 seasons.

The Lakers are 8-14 ATS as a road underdog this season.

The Knicks are 1 OVER and 5 UNDER when the total is 220 or greater this season.

Lakers: PF/SF Rui Hachimura.  Rui is the sorely needed “new guy” on the Lakers roster… having just come over in a trade form the Washington Wizards for Kendick Nunn and 3 2nd round picks. Rui has good size to play either forward spot and enough skill to become a full time Laker starter.  It remains to be seen if he supplants Troy Brown at the small forward spot or LeBron at the power forward spot and LeBron moves to the point guard?  We will see how it all shakes out.

Knicks: PF Julius Randle.  Julius leads the Knicks in Points and rebounds and consistently has a good statline across the board.  Julius used to be a Laker and a high Laker draft pick to boot… yet to accommodate the Anthony Davis trade 3 seasons ago.. Julius had to be waived.  He was immediately scooped up by the Pelicans.  He went from the Pelicans to the Knicks as a free agent when the Pelicans were getting ready to incorporate Zion Williamson… Both the Lakers and the Pelicans (and probably Randle) would be better off today had they simply held on to Julius. He is an underappreciated NBA star… he was even booed by the Madison Square Garden faithfull during a middle finger crowd salute last season.

Lakers: Darvin Ham

Knicks: Tom Thibodeau