Game Time: 9:00 PM ET, Friday, March 4th, 2022 

Venue:  Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Suns -6; O/U 224.5

Fanduel:  Spread:  Suns -6.5; 224.5

Caesars:  Spread: NL

A non-conference matchup of a Western Conference triumph and an Eastern Conference tragedy.   The New York Knicks are the tragedy… it’s no secret.  The Knicks had a deep playoff run after decades of awfulness LAST SEASON.  This season the Knicks are awful again.  Last season was like one of those flowers that only bloom for a few days a year and then die off… not to be seen again for quite some time.  To make matters worse the Knick have the worse fans in the NBA… I get it, it was fun.  When the crowd started booing their own players and their own draft picks 20 seasons ago it was fun… It was a reaction to how pathetic the team was… even though they take bug swings with signings and draft picks!  It was fun… but now… the crowd kills young players.  Players for the Knicks want out of the shadow of the permanent “boo”.  Players for the New York Knicks can’t live up to the standard of cheer, boo, cheer, boo.  No young person can thrive if mistakes will stab them in the heart by their supporters.  PF Julius Randle was the darling of the city during that playoff run.. His son became the cutest celebrity in the big apple for simply being happy to see his daddy play… the fans killed Julius Randle’s heart when he made the mistake of thumbs downing their boos.  The hatred and vitriol must be addressed.  The team is bad… the team is owned by a person who is the actual object of the boos… the players can’t win now… Their get up and go has been taken away.  The Phoenix Suns also suffered many years of being terrible… but the suntanned fans would show up and CHEER… weird?  It’s like the fans wanted everyone to be a team… It’s like the fans understood that is a privilege to go to an NBA game and sit nearby the action… It’s like the fans one day wanted a winner in town no matter how much they suffered through.  The young players succeeding with support actually worked.  The Suns drafted SG Devin Booker who has gotten better every year.  The Suns drafted C Deandre Ayton who has gotten better every year.  And in one of the biggest draft mistakes of the last decade the Philadelphia 76ers drafted SF Mikal Bridges AND traded him to the Suns even though Mikal’s MOM worked for the 76ers.  And the Phoenix Suns were born.  Quality, smiles, athleticism… they had it all!  Then they added veteran Jae Crowder and veteran legend PG Chris Paul!  The team was set… there might not be a better one in any city in the NBA.n  Plus the kids got to smile as they made mistakes and grew into the type of unit that could win and win a looooooot.  

The New York Knicks have won only ONE of their last ten games.  And in a bizarre twist that single win was against the Golden State Warriors… which only helped one team in the league, the Phoenix Suns.  The Knicks went 1-9 ATS during the ten-game stretch.  They are almost always an underdog and they simply don’t cover spreads.  That is all a part of the Knicks players being desperate to leave the arena and get far away from Knicks fans.  Leading the team in points, assists, and rebounds is Julius Randle… so he gets the loudest boos.  This NBA draft needs to come with big Knicks trades or the team may never break this pattern.

The Phoenix Suns have won 8 of their last ten games.  They went 5-5 ATS during the ten-game stretch.  The team hit a terrible speed bump when PG Chris Paul broke his finger derailing yet another great season with a hand problem.  He will be back for the playoffs.  Also the Suns just lost SG Devon Booker to Covid protocol… he could miss 3-5 games depending on when he starts testing negative again.  The good news is they won their last game against the Portland Trail Blazers and only have to face the lowly New York Knicks next.  The truth is the Suns are deep.  The Suns are good.  The backups are looking for a chance to help the team win while CP3 and Booker are out… they aren’t looking for stats… this team looks for wins.

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The Knicks are 25-37 on the season, but 26-36 ATS.  They have logged 31 Overs and 31 Unders. They are 12-18 in road games.

The Suns are 50-12 on the season.  They are the first team to hit 50 wins and the next team is FIVE games back.  They are 34-38 ATS.  They have notched 30 Overs, 31 unders, and 1 Push.  They are 27-7 in home games.

The Knicks are 27th in scoring with 105.1 ppg, 6th in rebounds with 46 per game, and 28th in AST/TO ratio with 1.6. They have a solid defense thanks to PF Julius Randle and C Mitchell Robinson who put up a big athletic frontline.  They rank 8th defensively while allowing 107.3 ppg from opponents.

The Suns are 4th in scoring with 113.7 ppg, 7th in reboundsa with 45.8 per game, and 2nd in AST/To ratio with 2.1.  They are 6th on defense while allowing 105.6 ppg.

Our prediction for Friday, March 4th is….  Suns 114 - Knicks 109

The Suns will beat the Knicks.  The Knicks simply don’t have enough strength at too many positions to handle the Suns.  The difference though will not be more than 5-6 points so we will have to bet on the prediction plus where the spread lands.  

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NY is 45-20 ATS after five or more consecutive Overs.
Phoenix is 16 Overs and 6 Unders as a home underdog the last 3 seasons.
Phoenix is 17-8 ATS vs Atlantic Division opponents the last 3 seasons.

Knicks: C Nerlens Noel (foot) Out ** PG Derrick Rose (ankle) Out ** SG Quentin Grimes (knee) Out ** PG Kemba Walker (team is angry) Out

Suns: SG Devin Booker (illness) Out ** PG Chris Paul (thumb) Out ** SF Dario Saric (knee) Out 

Knicks: SF RJ Barrett, PF Julius Randle, C Mitchell Robinson, SG Evan Fournier, PG Alec Burks

Suns: SF Mikal Bridges, PF Jae Crowder, C Deandre Ayton, SG Kandry Shamet, PG Cameron Payne

Knicks

Points: Julius Randle 19.7

Assists: Julius Randle 5.3

Rebounds: Julius Randle 10.1

Steals: Nerlens Noel 1.2

Blocks: Mitchell Robinson 1.6

Suns

Points: Devin Booker 25.6

Assists: Chris Paul 10.7

Rebounds: Deandre Ayton 10.0

Steals: Chris Paul 1.9

Blocks:  JaVale McGee 1.1

Knicks: Tom Thiboduea… really?  Still?

Suns: Monty Williams