How to Approach the Kings-Knicks Total Thursday Night
The total in the Sacramento Kings-New York Knicks game is a very interesting one. This game being played at MSG has the number set at 224.5, which seems a bit stranger since the Knicks are one of the best, if not the best defense in the NBA right now, allowing the least amount of points. On the other side, the Kings allow the most points per game to their opponents.
About 75 percent of the tickets out there are on the over, with most of the money going above the total which has moved it from 223.5 to 224.5. There are even a few 225s out there which is quite the steamy move. It’s pretty tough trying to predict the pace of this game as you’ve got one team that likes to play fast and another that slows down the pace. You’ve got one team that’s really good defensively and the other really bad defensively. The team that’s really bad defensively, Sacramento, is really good on the offensive end and the outstanding defensive team, New York, is the lowest-scoring team in the league. There are just so many conflicting factors at play here that it makes take a side very difficult.
The Knicks at home with fans should provide a little energy coming off of that loss to the Warriors on Tuesday. If they can dictate some tempo, this game could trend toward being lower scoring. Sometimes if the road team is better offensively that plays at a faster pace, they struggle away from home, especially against good defenses. The Knicks should have an easier time playing to their rate rather than the Kings setting the tempo. That being said, sometimes, when really good defensive teams with bad offenses face a lousy defense, they tend to relax a little bit defensively because they know that they’re going to be able to score. If that happens, it would certainly dictate an over type of game. But again, when you have two teams on such opposite ends of the spectrum with how they try to play basketball, it’s very hard to predict those kinds of games. One team’s style could end up winning out, and it could totally skew the number in one direction or the other.
While the total is a little more challenging, Julius Randle going over 24.5 points seems like a near no-brainer. Going up against that struggling Kings’ defense, this prop for the Knicks’ leading scorer trends positively. Sacramento has allowed 13 players in 12 games to hit over 24.5 points. Julius Randle is New York’s most consistent player, and head and shoulders above the rest their top offensive weapon.