Posted at 12:30 PM EST odds are subject to change.

Pinnacle +3 -106  BET365  +3 -110 Sportsinteraction +3 -110 888Sport +3 -110

New York +3 over L.A. Lakers

9:10 PM EST. What a difference a week makes, eh? It wasn't very long ago that the Knicks were the hottest thing in the Big Apple, making headlines after knocking off the mighty Celtics in Boston. That was a statement win that let the NBA know that the Knicks were for real and ready to make a run, right? Right?!?! Wrong.

Since that 131-129 overtime thriller in Beantown, the Knicks have dropped three straight, their longest losing streak since a four-game slide in mid-January. New York now goes from one of the hottest teams in the Association to one that is now trying to not give back every game of that nine-game winning streak that catapulted them into the playoffs proper and out of the "play-in" positions (7th-to-10th). After those three straight losses, the Knicks sit sixth, tied with Brooklyn. Both New York teams are three games back of fourth-placed Cleveland and three games up on seventh-place Miami.

The market must smell blood in the water, as the Knicks will once again be without Jalen Brunson tonight, as he's day-to-day with a sore left foot. With Brunson ruled out again, the "injury chasers" are circling. Moreover, Lakers star Anthony Davis is set to return to the lineup tonight, which has also brought out the "star chasers." The combination of Brunson not playing and Davis playing has created a perfect storm of overreactions that now present us with the opportunity to back the Knicks in a game one could argue they should be favored in. What would this line have been a week ago while the Knicks were on fire? Usually, the point-spread is the great equalizer, but in this game, those inflated points serve as a tremendous safety net that we aren't likely to need. However, we'll take the tray and stuff it in our back pockets just in case.

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