LA Lakers/New York Knicks NBA Preview Friday 2-10-12
The Los Angeles Lakers are not atop the Pacific Division or the Western Conference, mainly because of their struggles on the road this year. The New York Knicks have struggled most of this early season, and now with more injury trouble they’ll be hard-pressed to improve their fortunes Friday night when the Lakers visit Madison Square Garden. This is the second and final meetings between thse two teams this season, with the Lakers posting a 99-82 win at the Staples Center Dec. 29. Here is a look at my NBA picks on the game.
Los Angeles Lakers (15-11) @ New York Knicks (11-15), 8 p.m. ET
The Lakers are on a six-game road trip and enter Friday’s game with a 4-9 record away from home (4-8 when you take away a game vs. the Clippers that was called an away game, but played in the Staple’s Center). L.A. is just 3-4 in its last seven road dates and is coming off losses at Philadelphia (95-90) and Utah (96-87), but scored an overtime win over the Celtics last night. The Lakers are one of the best rebounding (second in the league with 44.8 rpg) and defensive teams (fourth, allowing 91 ppg), but has struggled offensively, ranking just 20th in scoring – with Kobe Bryant (29.3 ppg) accounting for about 30 percent of the team’s total scoring (93.2 ppg). The Lakers will need to control New York’s tempo, a job that may be made easier without Carmelo Anthony to worry about.
Just as the Knicks begin to turn the corner – winning three straight games after dropping 11 of 13 – the news came down that Anthony, who had just returned to the lineup following a wrist injury, now will miss one to two more weeks with a groin injury. New York is coming off a 107-93 win over Washington Wednesday night, breaking a four-game road losing streak. New York has won three of their last four home games after losing four straight, but without Anthony, the Knicks have been one of the worst scoring teams in the league. Against one of the better defensive teams in the league, the Knicks may have an even harder time finding the basket. Tyson Chandler (12.0 ppg, 9.9 rpg) will have to play big to be a counter for Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum inside. He has shown glimpses, but he’ll have to rise to the occasion for the Knicks to have a chance.
According to the NBA odds, the Lakers are 3.5-point road favorites, with a total set for 184 points. With the Lakers pretty healthy, and the Knicks hit with the injury bug and struggling to score, this looks like it might be a mismatch. The Knicks have pulled wounded-animal surprises before, knocking off Philadelphia, Utah, nearly winning at Boston and losing by just three to Chicago when it looked like they were down and out. If Chandler brings his “A” game and Amar’e Stoudemire had a game like he’s had in the past against the Lakers (when he was in Phoenix), the Knicks may have a chance late to challenge the Lakers considering their struggles on the road. However, without Carmelo to serve as some superstar counterbalance to Kobe, if the game is on the line late, expect Kobe to rise to the occasion and lead his team to victory. The Knicks pull off the upset only if they pick up the pace and score more than 95 points – not something they usually do without ‘Melo, even against mediocre defenses, never mind a stout crew like this one.
Final Score Prediction: Lakers 94, Knicks 89
