Taking the points with the Knicks: New York +5.5

The Knicks are on a three-game losing streak, during which New York mustered no more than 89 points per game. This run culminated with a 21-point loss at Charlotte Monday. New York will host the neighboring Brooklyn Nets Wednesday, following Brooklyn's home win versus the Denver Nuggets last night.

The Nets' superstar guard and enigmatic figure, Kyrie Irving, is still away from the team due to personal reasons, with no concrete return date scheduled. However, Brooklyn's other elite, Kevin Durant, is slated to participate in this evening's proceedings, marking KD's first back-to-back of the year.

We are getting down on the home dogs, as history hints that the present is a solid spot for the Knicks to secure the cover in the lone meeting between these Atlantic division rivals on the NBA schedule this season.

Once the season starts in earnest, bad teams taking points from known competition after big losses have proven solid bets historically.

Back to 2004, after the tenth game of the season, teams that missed the last playoffs and that are off losses of 15-points (or worse) have delivered a 15% return on investment when taking points from their division. This system has submitted only three losing seasons over this horizon.

Happy betting!!