by Chuck Sommers
Saturday, Jan 01, 2022
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON
Where to watch: TSN, MSG
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: NL
BetMGM: NL
Caesars: NL
Season record
Knicks: 17-19 (10th place, East)
Raptors: 15-17 (11th place, East)
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Knicks - Raptors preview and analysis
Recent form
Knicks: won three of four; lost 95-80 at Thunder on Friday
Raptors: won 116-108 vs. Clippers on Friday
Horrible timing for the New York Knicks to have Kemba Walker's scorched-Earth play go up in smoke after going down with a knee injury. It seemed like the perfect comeback story, but all for nothing at the moment.
The Knicks will try to get back to their winning ways after having their three-game winning streak end when they face the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
New York is coming off a disappointing 95-80 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but at the same time, to no fault of its own. The Knicks are down Walker, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson. While the scoring onus is on the shoulders of RJ Barrett -- and he delivered with 26 points in the loss -- the other nine Knicks players did not step up to the challenge.
The Knicks shot 37% and an abysmal 8 of 41 from 3-point range. Barrett was 1 of 8, Immanuel Quickley shot 1 of 7 from deep, and the team made just 12 of 22 from the charity stripe.
Defense wasn't a problem holding the Thunder to 95 points; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had to fight for those 23 points on 9 of 24 shooting, but the Thunder shot 18 of 43 from 3-point range.
The Knicks have lined up their straight-up record with the spread, going 5-5 in both. New York was a 2.5-point favorite against the Thunder and has been favored on the line over the past six games. At the time, no line has been set up, but I expect this to be close given the Raptors are at home and where the teams are in the standings.
Toronto is trying to get back into game shape after having three postponed because of COVID. After returning from hiatus, the Raptors lost two of three but secured a 12-point win on New Year's Eve against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Fred VanVleet had a game-high 31 points despite shooting 10 of 27 and shot 4 of 13 from 3-point range. His teammates did pick up that slack on the shooting side; Pascal Siakam had 25 points (10 of 20) and OG Anunoby had 26 (8 of 16) to pace the Raptors to a win despite shooting just 41.7% from the floor.
The Raptors have been great on the books for the most part, going 6-1 ATS in the last seven. The lone loss was that 45-point shellacking they took at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first game after the postponements. Other than that, things stayed the course.
Horrible timing for the New York Knicks to have Kemba Walker's scorched-Earth play go up in smoke after going down with a knee injury. It seemed like the perfect comeback story, but all for nothing at the moment.
The Knicks will try to get back to their winning ways after having their three-game winning streak end when they face the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
New York is coming off a disappointing 95-80 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but at the same time, to no fault of its own. The Knicks are down Walker, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson. While the scoring onus is on the shoulders of RJ Barrett -- and he delivered with 26 points in the loss -- the other nine Knicks players did not step up to the challenge.
The Knicks shot 37% and an abysmal 8 of 41 from 3-point range. Barrett was 1 of 8, Immanuel Quickley shot 1 of 7 from deep, and the team made just 12 of 22 from the charity stripe.
Defense wasn't a problem holding the Thunder to 95 points; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had to fight for those 23 points on 9 of 24 shooting, but the Thunder shot 18 of 43 from 3-point range.
The Knicks have lined up their straight-up record with the spread, going 5-5 in both. New York was a 2.5-point favorite against the Thunder and has been favored on the line over the past six games. At the time, no line has been set up, but I expect this to be close given the Raptors are at home and where the teams are in the standings.
Toronto is trying to get back into game shape after having three postponed because of COVID. After returning from hiatus, the Raptors lost two of three but secured a 12-point win on New Year's Eve against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Fred VanVleet had a game-high 31 points despite shooting 10 of 27 and shot 4 of 13 from 3-point range. His teammates did pick up that slack on the shooting side; Pascal Siakam had 25 points (10 of 20) and OG Anunoby had 26 (8 of 16) to pace the Raptors to a win despite shooting just 41.7% from the floor.
The Raptors have been great on the books for the most part, going 6-1 ATS in the last seven. The lone loss was that 45-point shellacking they took at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first game after the postponements. Other than that, things stayed the course.
Prediction
The Raptors' defense is not as potent as it once was, but facing a banged-up Knicks team is going to be beneficial for them. Someone has to pick up the scoring slack from New York, and it's hard to look at that starting five and see who can put up 20 along with Barrett. I like the Raptors at home. Raptors by 13
Betting trends
The under is 7-1 in the Knicks' last eight games following a straight-up loss by double digits.
The Knicks are 3-12 ATS in their last 15 after playing on one day of rest.
The over is 6-0 in the Raptors' last six games.
The Knicks are 0-9 ATS in the last nine matchups at Toronto.
Projected starting lineup
Knicks:
PG: Immanuel Quickley
SG: Evan Fournier
SF: RJ Barrett
PF: Obi Toppin
C: Taj Gibson
SF: RJ Barrett
PF: Obi Toppin
C: Taj Gibson
Raptors:
PG: Fred VanVleet
SG: Gary Trent
SF: OG Anunoby
PF: Scottie Barnes
C: Pascal Siakam
SF: OG Anunoby
PF: Scottie Barnes
C: Pascal Siakam
Key injuries
Knicks: Kemba Walker (knee, out), Mitchell Robinson (COVID, out), Julius Randle (COVID, out), Derrick Rose (ankle, out)
Raptors: Goran Dragic (personal, out)
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
