Home And Home
Washington,DC – The New York Knicks have had trouble stringing together victories this season. A home-and-home series with the Washington Wizards could help them put an end to those struggles.
New York looks to sweep the season series from the Wizards for the first time since 2003-04 when the teams conclude their home-and-home set on Friday night in Washington.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Wizards -1.5 point spread favorites for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 68% of more than 216 bets for this game have been placed on the Wizards -1.5.
The Knicks (15-22) defeated the Wizards 128-122 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, improving to 3-0 against Washington (7-31) this season. New York is averaging 121.3 points in those victories, while Washington has scored 115.7 per game.
Wednesday’s victory was the Knicks’ second in a row, and they’ll now be trying to win three straight for just the second time this season. New York posted three consecutive victories from Nov. 5-9, winning 114-108 at Washington during that stretch.
David Lee had 30 points and 10 rebounds, and reserve Al Harrington scored 27 points as the Knicks handed the Wizards their sixth straight loss Wednesday night.
Lee, averaging career highs of 15.4 points and 11.1 rebounds, had 24 points and nine boards in a 101-95 win at New Orleans on Monday. He’s averaging 21.7 points and 7.7 rebounds against Washington this season.
"It’s not about my offense. It’s not about how I’m playing," said Lee, who’s tied for second in the NBA with 26 double-doubles. "It’s the fact that we were able to get another win today at home and we’ve got another chance at Washington in a couple of days here and that’s another victory we have to get."
Quentin Richardson added 26 points and Chris Duhon finished with 17 and nine assists for the Knicks, who had their second-best shooting night of the season by making 53.8 percent of their field goal attempts.
"Their ability to move the ball off the dribble and their quick passing gives us trouble," Wizards coach Ed Tapscott said. "If we go big, we can’t guard them off the dribble, and if we go small, we can’t get rebounds. So I guess I’m going to have to find something in between that will allow us a semblance of both."
Washington’s Nick Young, getting more playing time with injuries to Gilbert Arenas, Brendan Haywood, DeShawn Stevenson and Etan Thomas, established a career high for the third time in four games with 33 points. He was 13-of-17 from the field after recent performances of 28 and 30 points.
Caron Butler added 25 points and Mike James had 20 for the Wizards, who had won three of five before their six-game skid. Washington shot a season-best 59.7 percent from the field.
"It was almost like pickup basketball," James said. "We were talking at halftime. Some people said they’ve seen more defense on video games. You joke about that, but it’s not a laughing matter."
Washington and New York both allow opponents to average over 100 points, giving up 100.7 and 106.8, respectively. The Knicks, though, score 103.5 points per game while the Wizards average 94.1.
New York has won three of its last four in Washington after dropping seven of its previous 10 visits.
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Posted: 1/16/09 1:06AM ET