NBA Free Premium Play 11/08: New York Knicks @ Charlotte Bobcats

New York  at Charlotte

NBA - 501 New York Knicks @ 502 Charlotte Bobcats Play #1 Charlotte won their game at NY against the Knicks last Tuesday, where they took advantage of Tyson Chandler's injury early in the game to pound the Knicks down low with quick penetrations that sent the Bobcats a lot to the free throw line, as both Andrea Bargnani and Amare Stoudemire are poor defenders and couldn't stop the Bobcats' guards to penetrate into the basket. On the other hand, Charlotte struggled on pick and roll ball handler plays with just 3-12 FG and 0.59 PPP, as I had expected. However, the Knicks' defensive positioning was so poor that the Bobcats crushed them on transitions to get the win at the end. On the following day, the Bobcats played at home against Toronto in a game where they should have easily won and not by just two points. The main reason for this short win was the terrible 17-30 FT from them! They also struggled on treys with 3-15 3pts and the Bobcats continue being too perimeter-oriented with Al Jefferson still sidelined. They construct well offensive plays (19-26 FG at the rim and 11-22 FG from 16-23 feet), but they are too predictable and have no confidence on their 3pts shooting. On defense, the Bobcats continue showing their improvements in comparison with last season by limiting very well the one-dimensional offense of the Raptors, led by the ball hogs DeMar DeRozan (5-16 FG) and Rudy Gay (8-21 FG). So, tonight we have a rematch from last Tuesday when Charlotte defeated the Knicks at NY. With Tyson Chandler still out, the Knicks are bound to struggle on defense, however they held the Bobcats to just 38 points on the second half when Kenyon Martin replaced Amare Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani at the Center position. The Bobcats' overall offensive numbers on last Tuesday's game weren't that good with 42.3% FG, 12-24 FG at the rim and 17 assists, however they had 34-42 FT. So, I believe the Knicks on a nice spot tonight will be more successful in avoiding the Bobcats' average offense to pound them like they did it on the second half of last Tuesday's game. On the other hand, the Knicks will go small tonight, with Andrea Bargnani at Center, Carmelo Anthony at the PF position and Iman Shumpert as their SF. With the return of small lineup, I expect the Knicks offense to be more effective, while they should do a better defensive job tonight as well. Therefore, I expect the Knicks to get revenge from their loss last Tuesday with a solid win tonight. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 501 New York Knicks (-3) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker