Wizards vs. Knicks prediction and odds for Wednesday, January 18 (How to bet total)
By Peter Dewey
The New York Knicks are hoping to put a heartbreaking loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday behind them when they take on the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.
Kristaps Porzingis makes his return to MSG, and the Knicks would love to send him home with a loss, especially since the Miami Heat are right on their tail for the No. 6 seed in the East.
The Knicks and Wizards played on Friday last week, with New York pulling out a 112-108 victory behind 34 points, eight rebounds and eight assists from point guard Jalen Brunson.
New York has struggled a bit as a home favorite this season, going 7-9-1 against the spread, and it failed to cover against Toronto on Monday. Meanwhile, Washington is just 8-10-2 against the spread as road underdog on the season.
The Wizards have listed star Bradley Beal as questionable for this game. He would give them a major boost on offense if he’s able to suit up.
After a strong start to the season, Washington is eight games under .500 and slowly fading out of the play-in tournament picture.
This is a winnable game for the Knicks, but do they cover the spread as well?
Here’s a look at the latest odds as well as my favorite wager for this matchup:
Wizards vs. Knicks odds, spread and total
Wizards vs. Knicks prediction and pick
The Knicks and Wizards combined for 220 points in Washington, D.C. in their first meeting this season, and I’m thinking we see a similar game tonight.
My favorite bet on Wednesday is the UNDER, as New York’s defense has been the driving force on its strong play this season.
The Knicks rank 11th in the NBA in defensive rating this season, and they are fourth in that statistic over their last 10 games. Over that same stretch, Washington is eighth in the league in defensive rating and just 19th in offensive rating.
Both of these teams are going to hang their hat on that end of the floor, and if Beal doesn’t suit up, the Wizards will need to lock down on defense because they lack scoring outside of Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma.
On the season, the Knicks rank 26th in the NBA in pace and Washington clocks in at No. 18 in the league.
The Knicks play very deliberately, running a lot of isolation basketball between Brunson, RJ Barrett and Julius Randle. Despite having two 30-point quarters in the game against Washington on Friday, these teams still combined for less than 222.5 points.
New York has also gone under this number in six of its last nine games. If the Knicks can control the tempo on Wednesday, this game should be relatively low scoring.
Find Peter Dewey’s full betting record here.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.