Update: Gilgeous-Alexander has been upgraded to questionable and did participate in this morning’s shootaround, so it seems like he’s going to be on track to play. If he does suit up, I like the Thunder as the ATS pick instead of the Knicks.
Two teams on the rise will face off Sunday evening as the Oklahoma City Thunder (51-22) battle the New York Knicks (44-29). The Thunder are coming off an impressive win over the Suns, while the Knicks suffered a close loss to the Spurs last time out. Oklahoma City won the first matchup between these teams this season 129-120.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains doubtful for the Thunder as he deals with a quad injury. The Knicks are still without OG Anunoby and Julius Randle, while Mitchell Robinson is questionable. Alec Burks and Isaiah Hartenstein are probable.
The Knicks are 1.5-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook with the total coming in at 216.5. New York is -125 on the moneyline while Oklahoma City is +105.
Thunder vs. Knicks, 7 p.m. ET
Pick ATS: Knicks -1.5
New York is 38-32-3 ATS while Oklahoma City is 42-30-1 ATS on the season. The Knicks have done well as home favorites, going 16-11 ATS at Madison Square Garden. The Thunder have been equally good as road underdogs at 7-4-1 ATS.
There’s a lot of talent missing in this game and even though the Thunder got a win last time out against Phoenix with Gilgeous-Alexander, a road game without him is a different animal. I think Oklahoma City comes back to Earth a bit in this game, and I’ll back the Knicks to grab an important win at home.
Over/Under: Over 216.5
The Thunder have gone over their totals in the last three games and five of the last eight, while the Knicks have also gone over in their last three and five of their last six. This number is too low to feel good about the under, even with a lot of talent sitting this one out. I’ll take the over in Sunday’s game.