Posted at 11:45 AM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle -4½ -108 BET365 -5 -110 Sportsinteraction -4½ -115 888Sport -4½ -118

New York -4½ over Chicago

Best Odds: -108 at Pinnacle

8:10 PM EST. There's a reason the spread keeps moving in favor of the Knicks. Part of why is because of how big they let-down in their last contest against the Bulls, a 108-100 loss this past Friday. The other reason - Alex Caruso.

Caruso is in danger of missing a second straight game because of a left ankle bruise. That's not good for the Chicago Bulls. While the Bulls' defense had nice moments at certain points during the season, like in December and January when they finally ascended to a top-10 rank, it's mostly been mediocre. Without Alex Caruso, they're far worse. Without Caruso they allow 4.7 ppg more and their opponent's three-point average jumps from a hit rate of 37.4%, a big uptick from 35.6% with the pesky shooting guard in their lineup. And even if Caruso plays tonight, we imagine a compromised left ankle isn't the best ailment to deal with when you're assigned to Jalen Brunson, one of the association's most aggressive and consistent scorers. 

The Bulls also don't need this game quite like the Knicks do. Chicago can't catch up to the Heat in the 8th spot and they're one-game-up on the Hawks for 9th place in the East. Even if they lose tonight, it's likely the Hawks will lose (see our other bet), too, and even if they win the Bulls own the tiebreaker over Atlanta since they won their season series, 2-1. Astoundingly, the Knicks could drop as low as 8th place in an ultra-tight playoff positioning battle that continues in the Eastern Conference, so they undoubtedly will be motivated to take home a big win tonight.

And the Knicks are as healthy as they've been in a long time. We know they'll miss Julius Randle for the rest of their 2023-24 campaign, but OG Anunoby will play in his third game back, as will big-man and stellar rim-protector, Mitchell Robinson. All season, the Knicks have been one of the best teams in the association, earning a top-5 net rating, and that was with many of their key starters missing for huge stretches of the NBA calendar.

Amplifying the away team's motivation even more, Josh Hart, one of New York's emotional leaders and a dynamic swiss-army knife since he joined the team in early 2023, was ejected in the first quarter in their last matchup against Chicago. As a collective unit, the Knicks are as tough and undeterred as any program we've seen this season, and we expect them to answer with vengeful authority tonight. If the Bulls are without Caruso, don't be surprised if it's a blowout.

Farley

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