After a statement win over the Indiana Pacers in their home opener on Friday, the New York Knicks will now welcome in the unbeaten Cleveland Cavaliers as they renew yet another spicy rivalry that’s developed in the playoffs over the last few years.
With Cleveland making it through an incredibly soft schedule to open the season, might the Knicks be too much to handle in this one?
Let’s hand out some Cavaliers vs. Knicks predictions and NBA picks for Monday, October 28.
Cavaliers vs Knicks prediction
My best bet
Knicks -2.5 (-110 at Caesars)
My analysis
The Cleveland Cavaliers are an excellent draw for the New York Knicks, who relied heavily upon the 3-point shot a season ago. The Cavs sat just 21st in defending the trey last year according to Cleaning the Glass, doing the heavy lifting on defense down low around the rim.
New York ranks fourth in 3-point shooting through the first week of the season with the Karl-Anthony Towns trade paying instant dividends thus far.
Cleveland’s one of the few teams which has shot the ball better from outside than New York, but it’s come against the Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, and Washington Wizards. The Knicks defended well last year and should stand a much better chance of slowing the Cavaliers here, especially without Max Strus on the floor for the visitors.
Despite the wins, the Cavaliers rank just 25th in 3-point defense in the early going, and as the Knicks look to avoid this frontcourt and lean on their bevy of shooters, this should come into play in a huge way.
It’s hard to get a great read on the Knicks just two games into the year, but they’ve scored the ball well both times they’ve played and just fell victim to an other-worldly Boston Celtics offense in their opening game. Cleveland’s offense is a bit inflated by playing three terrible defenses, and down one big shooter and up against a much better defense, things should regress to the mean.
That, coupled with an excellent matchup on the perimeter for the Knicks, should net them another big win.
Cavaliers vs Knicks same-game parlay (SGP)
Knicks -2.5
OG Anunoby 2+ made threes
Jalen Brunson Over 3.5 rebounds
I think the best plan of attack here is to back OG Anunoby to record his first game of the season with multiple made shots from outside.
With Josh Hart questionable to play, we may see Anunoby get plenty of run at small forward against Dean Wade, which is a much better matchup than he’d get against Evan Mobley at power forward. On top of that, it’s become clear that he’s going to be a big part of this team’s outside shooting, taking 12 triples in the final two games of the preseason and cashing in on five.
Anunoby’s taken 9.5 shots per game this year, proving that the volume should be there, even if he’s taken four 3-pointers in each of the first two contests. He was 2-for-5 from outside the only time he met Cleveland last season, and I like him to hit a couple more shots from the arc on Monday.
Then, I’ll add Jalen Brunson to get active on the boards. Cavaliers rank just 18th in rebounding rate this year, a season after sitting 15th. The Knicks are coming off a season where, despite many injuries in the frontcourt, they still sat atop the league in this category. They pulled down an incredible 54% of available rebounds vs. Cleveland last year.
There aren’t many guys on the floor to out-rebound other than Towns, and Brunson racked up five boards against the Pacers. He’s gone for four or more rebounds in the last three games he’s played against Cleveland, something that should happen yet again here given the matchup.
Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.
Cavaliers vs Knicks odds
Cavaliers vs Knicks live odds
Get the latest Cavaliers vs Knicks NBA odds.
Cavaliers vs Knicks opening odds
- Spread: Cleveland +2.5 | New York -2.5
- Moneyline: Cleveland +123 | New York -136
- Over/Under: Over 223 | Under 223
Cavaliers vs Knicks spread and Over/Under analysis
- The Knicks took a quick trip to -3.5, but the market quickly corrected with the line sitting at 2.5 for most of the day. There was only a momentary move back to Knicks -3.
- DraftKings is reporting that 66% of the bets and 60% of the handle is on the Knicks to cover.
- The total fluctuated between 222 and 223 points for most of the early betting before falling to 221.5 and jumping back to 223.5, where the line sits now.
- The Over has accounted for 74% of the tickets and 81% of the handle.
Cavaliers vs Knicks trend
The Knicks have hit the Over in 22 of their last 30 games (+13.20 Units / 40% ROI). Find more NBA betting trends for Cavaliers vs. Knicks.
Cavaliers vs Knicks game info
| Location: | Madison Square Garden, New York, NY |
| Date: | Monday, 10-28-2024 |
| Tip-off: | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| TV: | FDSNOH, MSG |
Cavaliers vs Knicks latest injuries
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