Los Angeles Clippers -14.5 @ New York Knicks
The Los Angeles Clippers star Power Forward, Blake Griffin, exited the Clips lineup in early February to address a staph infection in his elbow. The Clippers had dropped four in a row up to that point, and sank from #2 to #9 in our power ratings. The loss of a premier player such as Griffin for an unspecified period of time might have easily lead to a more precipitous downward spiral. But instead, while Blake was out, LA improved by 4 points per game versus average competition, on a neutral floor. Now Griffin is back, and, after three games, looks to have regained his elite form.
The Clippers are among the older NBA teams (when player age is weighted by minutes played), and have shown vulnerability when playing with no (or limited) rest. However, when they lace up at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night, the Los Angeles will have had two nights off. LA is 9-3 ATS when well-rested (i.e. playing on more than one day's rest).
The New York Knicks are 2-11 in March and have dropped their last four games both straight up and versus the number. Their last three losses came with margins of at least 16 points.
Our RPM-based power ratings makes the Clippers out to be 20 points better than the current injury-riddled version of the Knicks (in addition to Carmelo being deactivated for the season, Jose Calderon is out indefinitely and Tim Hardaway, Jr. is listed as questionable for Wednesday's action).
Our simulation work likewise sees Los Angeles winning by 16 or 17 and leaving the Big Apple with the cover. As such, we can find no reason not to doubt that the superior squad will dominate all facets of the game and collect the cover.
Happy betting!!