New York Knicks versus Houston Rockets Pick Prediction NBA Pro Basketball Preview 12-17-2012

Jeremy Lin make his return to Madison Square Garden as the 11-12 Houston Rockets will face the 18-5 New York Knicks in an NBA pro basketball game on Monday night. Tip off time from New York is scheduled for 7:30PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by NBA TV.

The current NBA odds from this game have the home club New York Knicks favored by -9 points and the over under set at 210 points. There has been no line movement since the odds opened up in this game a few hours ago.

The teams met back on November 23rd and it was Houston with the 131-103 home win against the Knicks as a +4 point underdog. The game ended over 197 ½ points. Trend: Houston Rockets are 6-0 ATS in their past six meetings with the New York Knicks

The Rockets are just 2-6 on the road this season and their lack of size can hinder this team defensively. They come of the 103-96 road loss on Sunday afternoon to the injury depleted Toronto Raptors as a -4 point favorite. It was a terrible loss for the Rockets as the Raptors were without the number two and three scorer on Sunday. The Raptors were the walking wounded with Andrea Bargnani, Kyle Lowry and Landry Field all out with injuries. Houston makes just 41% from the floor in defeat. James Harden shot 7 of 18 from the floor but made 14 of 15 free throws for 28 points. The loss snapped a two game win streak for Houston.

The Knicks are a perfect 10-0 straight up on their home court on the season. They enter play with four straight wins and nine wins over their past ten games. In what I thought might have been a letdown spot the team barely defeats a bad Cleveland team 103-102 as a -10 ½ point favorite. The Knicks had just won Brooklyn a home to the Lakers and Cleveland did not pose much of a threat to New York. We also have seen a two point win by the Knicks against Charlotte so these bad eastern conference teams can bring down efforts. New York is a good three point shooting team making 41% from beyond the arc this season. The Knicks hold teams to just 96 points a game good for tenth in scoring defense. Carmelo Anthony has been listed as questionable on Monday with an ankle injury. He missed the Cavaliers game after suffering the injury against the Lakers.