Knicks vs. Suns NBA Best Bets Today (March 4) (Archive)
The Phoenix Suns (50-12) are hosting the New York Knicks (25-37) on ESPN this Friday evening. Phoenix has seven more wins than the next closest team in the NBA, but it is only 1-2 on this current homestand. Let’s see what the NBA odds for this matchup tell us!
New York Knicks vs. Phoenix Suns
Friday, March 4, 2022 – 10:00 PM EST at Footprint Center
The Suns (34-28 ATS) are a 6.5-point favorite over the Knicks (26-36 ATS) at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks. Between Chris Paul’s broken thumb and Devin Booker entering the league’s COVID protocol, the Suns are playing without their two best players. However, that did not stop them from beating Portland by 30 points on Wednesday night. Can the Knicks keep it close?
Can Phoenix Keep Rolling?
The Suns without Paul and Booker are likely not going to do well in a best-of-seven playoff series against a quality opponent, but Monty Williams coaches a good enough roster to get past random bad teams in the regular season.
Phoenix beat Portland by a final of 120-90, which was the third straight loss by 30 points for Portland, one of two teams in the last five seasons to drop consecutive home games by more than 30 points. New York offers a stiffer challenge than that, but the Suns are still a deserving favorite here even without their two best players.
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Guard Cameron Payne picked a good time to return Wednesday with the surprise news about Booker entering the COVID protocol. Payne only scored five points on 2-of-8 shooting in his return, but he dished out a season-high eight assists in 20 minutes of action.
He’s not Paul or Booker, but when given a chance to shine in last year’s playoffs without Paul against the Clippers, Payne had 29 points and nine assists. Look for him to play more minutes and shoot better in this game.
Deandre Ayton is still a reliable center and has scored at least 18 points in the last three games. Even without Paul feeding him the easy ones since the All-Star break, Ayton is still shooting 72.7% from the field.
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Cameron Johnson has been a sharpshooter off the bench and is making 51.4% of his threes in his last five games with at least three makes in every game. Veteran Jae Crowder is also an all-around weapon who would be one of the best players on the Knicks.
Mikal Bridges can be inconsistent, but he has the potential to score 20 on any given night. The Suns cannot afford any more injuries, but this roster is good enough to cover against these Knicks.
It’s Up to You, New York
These teams met once this season the day after Thanksgiving. The Suns won every quarter and won the game 118-97. Booker led the way with 32 points for Phoenix in a lopsided game as the Suns shot 55.7% compared to 37% for the Knicks. Julius Randle only scored nine points and his eight field-goal attempts were his second-fewest in a game this season.
Over the last four games without Paul, the Suns are No. 10 in Offensive Rating and No. 4 in Defensive Rating. During that same time, the Knicks are No. 28 in Offensive Rating and No. 27 in Defensive Rating.
Not to bury the lede, but the Knicks have won one of their last 11 games, and even that was by two points in Golden State. The Knicks have lost 16 of their last 19 games, and 12 of those losses were by at least seven points.
It’s a make-or-miss game, and good shooting is generally what it takes to beat the Suns this season. Phoenix is 39-2 when holding opponents under 46% shooting. Guess which team has the longest active streak of games shooting under 45%? It’s the Knicks at 11 games as they rank 28th in FG% in the NBA.
Prediction
New York is 3-27 this season when allowing at least 110 points while the Suns are 37-3 when scoring at least 110 points. Even if the Suns have to grind things out more on offense without their star guards, they should be able to take care of a bad Knicks team at home. I trust the Suns to cover for your Friday NBA picks.
NBA Pick: Suns -6.5 (-110) with Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
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