Minnesota Timberwolves versus New York Knicks Pick Prediction NBA Pro Basketball Odds Preview 2-8-2013

The 31-16 New York Knicks will travel to face the 18-28 Minnesota Timberwolves in an NBA pro basketball game on Friday night. Tip time from Minnesota is scheduled for 8PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by the NBA League Pass Channel.

The NBA odds from this contest has the road team New York Knicks favored by -5 ½ points with an over under line of 197 points. There has been no line movement in this game since the odds came out a few hours ago.

The teams met back on December 23rd and it was the Knicks posting the 94-91 home win against the Timberwolves as a +8 point underdog. The total came in at under 201 points.

New York has a road record of 12-10 on the year. The team had their five game win streak snapped on Wednesday in a 106-96 road defeat to the Washington Wizards as a -4 ½ point betting favorite. The total came in at over 190 ½ points. The Knicks shot just 40.5% from the floor with 9 of 28 coming from three. Their defense let them down as New York allows 53.2% shooting and 11 of 20 from three. Carmelo Anthony had 31 points and 9 rebounds on 10 of 23 shooting. The Knicks have now been held under 100 points in three of four games. They are a mid-pack shooting team ranking 15th in the NBA at 44.6% from the field.

The Timberwolves are a downtrodden team impacted by injuries this season. They have lost two straight and eight of their past nine games after a 104-94 home defeat on Wednesday night to the San Antonio Spurs as a +5 point underdog. The game came right at the closing line of 198 points. Minnesota shot just 40.7% from the field and 8 of 18 from three. They pull down 8 more rebounds than the Spurs but turn the ball over 16 times. The Timberwolves give up 45.7% shooting to San Antonio. Nikola Pekovic led Minnesota with 21 points and 10 rebounds. With Kevin Love out the Timberwolves offense has struggled. They are a bottom third team in the league in all four key offensive categories which are points per game, field goal, three point and free throw shooting. The Timberwolves are the worst three point shooting team in the league with 30.2% from beyond the arc.