New York Knicks vs Oklahoma City Thunder Prediction, Preview and Odds - 12/31/2021

Game Time: 8:00 pm ET, Friday, December 31, 2021

Venue:  Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK

Where to Watch:  BSOK

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Knicks -6, Thunder +6; Over/Under:  205.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Knicks -6.5, Thunder +6.5; Over/Under:  205.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Knicks -6.5, Thunder +6.5; Over/Under:  NL points

 

New York Knicks:  17-18 (3rd place, Atlantic Division)

Oklahoma City Thunder:  12-22 (5th place, Northwest Division)

 

Do not miss out on our expert handicapper analysis! Ben Burns is on a 76-48 NBA RUN! Make sure you check out his picks and many more from the expert handicappers featured in the Shop Picks section.

 

New York Knicks:  5-5 last 10

Oklahoma City Thunder:  4-6 last 10

 

 

 

The Knicks are coming into this game with a 17-18 record overall and they are 10-7 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They have won 4 of their last 5 games and are coming into this one on a 3 game winning streak after another win in their last game. Their last loss was against the Washington Wizards while their 4 wins in that span came against the Detroit Pistons, the Atlanta Hawks, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Pistons again in their last game. Alec Burks led the team in points in that game off the bench with 34 while Immanuel Quickley was next on the team with 18 points. Julius Randle led the team in assists in that game with 5 and he led the team in rebounds as well with 10. They were 38.3% from the field, 25.8% from 3-point range, and 88.9% from the free throw line with their shooting in that game. Their offense is averaging 105.4 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 105.6 PPG against them. The Knicks have an ATS record of 16-19 this season and their O/U record is 15-20.

 

 

The Thunder are coming into this game with a 12-22 record overall and they are 7-10 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They have lost 3 of their last 4 games and are coming into this one on a 2 game losing streak after another loss in their last game. Their last win was against the New Orleans Pelicans while their 3 losses in that span came against the Phoenix Suns, the Sacramento Kings, and the Suns again in their last game. Ty Jerome led the team in points in that game with 24 while Aaron Wiggins was next on the team with 22 points. Jerome also led the team in assists in that game with 5 while Wiggins and Jerome both led the team in rebounds with 8 each. They were 39.6% from the field, 20% from 3-point range, and 87.5% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Their offense is averaging 100.4 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 108.2 PPG against them. The Thunder have an ATS record of 21-13 this season and their O/U record is 14-20.

 

 

The Thunder are coming into this game as a 6 point underdog with the current betting odds according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Thunder have not been playing well in their recent games but they are getting some of their starters back for this game including their best player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who was absent in their last game. The Knicks have been a very inconsistent team this season and they are also going to be missing a few of their starters here. The Knicks did not play that well in their last game, they beat the Pistons but they were trailing by more than 10 points for most of the third quarter and they could have easily lost that game if they did not make that comeback. The Thunder are a better team than the Pistons, still not a great team but if that happens again in this game the Knicks might not be able to come back against them. The best bet to place in this game is on the Thunder to cover the spread here and keep this game close.

 

Knicks Thunder Prediction:  Our NBA Pick for Friday, December 31, 2021 (8:00 pm ET start time) is Knicks 111 Thunder 108.

Don't miss our champion handicappers free picks and expert basketball picks today.  And if you enjoyed this New York Knicks Oklahoma City Thunder prediction, be sure to drop by every day for our weekly NBA predictions and previews.

 

 

New York Knicks: 7-12 O/U against Northwest division opponents. 6-11 O/U when playing their 3rd road game in 5 days. 3-9 O/U after scoring 100 points or less. 5-15 O/U after scoring 105 points or less. 11-17 O/U after a combined score of 195 points or less. 

Oklahoma City Thunder: 6-11 O/U as an underdog of 3.5 to 9.5 points. 13-20 O/U in all games. 12-19 O/U as an underdog. 13-20 O/U in the first half of the season. 7-12 O/U after 1 or more consecutive unders. 

 

 

New York Knicks:  D. House Jr. (SF) Out Fri - Finger injury. J. Randle (PF) Out indefinitely - Illness. E. Fournier (SG) Ques Fri - Ankle injury. W. Selden (SG) Out indefinitely - Illness. J. Sims (C) Out indefinitely - Illness. D. Rose (PG) Late Feb - Ankle injury. N. Noel (C) Out indefinitely - Illness. K. Knox II (SF) Out indefinitely - Illness.

Oklahoma City Thunder:  K. Williams (SG) Ques Fri - Ankle injury. S. Gilgeous-Alexander (PG) Ques Fri - Ankle injury. J. Giddey (SG) Out indefinitely - Illness. A. Pokusevski (PF) Out indefinitely - Illness. J. Robinson-Earl (SF) Out indefinitely - Illness. D. Bazley (SF) Out indefinitely - Illness. T. Mann (PG) Out indefinitely - Illness.

 

 

 

"We just felt we'll find some people that can get something done. That's what we did. In some ways, that was a blessing. Those guys were out and now they're back in, so their energy was real high." - Tom Thibodeau on his team’s win against the Pistons on Wednesday night.

 

 

"I was really proud of our guys. Five, six minutes left, and it was a two-possession game. We made it a game which is hard to do against a high-level team on the road." - Mike Wilks on his team’s loss against the Suns on Wednesday night.

 

 

 

PG     Kemba Walker

SG     Evan Fournier 

SF     RJ Barrett

PF     Obi Toppin

C     Mitchell Robinson

 

PG     Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

SG     Aaron Wiggins

SF     Kenrich Williams

PF     Luguentz Dort

C     Derrick Favors

 

 

PPG: J. Randle (19.3)

APG: J. Randle (5)

Reb/G: J. Randle (10)

 

PPG: S. Gilgeous-Alexander (22.7)

APG: J. Giddey (6.1)

Reb/G: J. Giddey (7.1)

 

Coaches:

New York Knicks: Tom Thibodeau (2nd season)

Oklahoma City Thunder: Mark Daigneault (3rd season)