Pinnacle    +160   BET365   +160  Sportsinteraction  +160 888port  +160

Posted at 9:00 AM ET. Odds are subject to change

Cleveland +160 ML over NEW YORK

Madison Square Garden – New York, NY

12:10 PM ET. There are few stronger pricing forces in the NBA betting market than the New York Knicks playing at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day. History, spectacle, television exposure, and public enthusiasm all collide into one thing: inflated numbers. That’s exactly what we’re seeing here.

The Knicks deserve their flowers. This version of New York looks different — more focused, more cohesive, and more ambitious than any recent iteration. Add in an NBA Cup title and legitimate Eastern Conference aspirations, and you have a team the market is eager to reward. But eagerness is rarely cheap. When the Knicks take the Christmas Day stage, bettors aren’t just backing basketball — they’re buying into tradition and momentum.

That’s where Cleveland comes in. The Cavaliers overall have been an unreliable ATS team this season, and that unreliability has crushed their betting reputation. If ATS record equaled straight-up wins, Cleveland would be viewed as one of the league’s worst teams. But basketball value doesn’t live in perception — it lives in pricing. But we must also add that the Cavs don’t curry the favor that the Knicks do here either.

But the line tells a story. Not long ago, Cleveland was catching far fewer points. Since then, the spread has moved steadily toward New York without a corresponding shift in fundamental matchup dynamics. The move is narrative-driven: Christmas in New York, a surging Knicks squad, national spotlight, and public confidence.

Strip all of that away, this is a roster with playoff experience and offensive acumen that can give any team headaches. If the Knicks didn’t have the holiday aura, the Garden mystique, and the NBA Cup credential hanging over this matchup, Cleveland might be favored — or at worst, a near pick’em. This play isn’t strictly about fading New York. It’s about finding value hidden in the numbers. The Cavaliers are not only competitive — they are mispriced. Cleveland has the tools, composure, and opportunity to play spoiler. Sometimes the sharpest move on Christmas is betting the Grinch.

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