What: Charlotte Hornets (6-15) (1-7 away) at New York Knicks (13-8) (7-2 home)

When: 7:30pm Eastern

Where: Madison Square Garden; New York, NY

How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass

Outfitting: Hornets–Icon (teal), Knicks–Association (white)

Game Lines: Hornets +14.5, Hornets money line +800, O/U 212.5

Injuries:
Hornets: LaMelo Ball-out (calf), Miles Bridges-out (knee), Tre Mann-out (back), Grant Williams-out (knee)

Knicks: Precious Achiuwa-questionable (hamstring), Cam Payne-questionable (elbow), Mitchell Robinson-out (ankle)

The betting market has this game as a near guaranteed win for the Knicks. A bet on the Knicks to simply win the game is -1600, meaning you would have to bet $1600 to win just $100. It’s hard to disagree. The Hornets are losers of six straight, including a loss to the Knicks. The Knicks are winners of eight of their last ten and just won their NBA Cup group.

The Knicks are led by Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, who are both shooting real good balls right now. Mikal Bridges has fully found his shooting stroke, as awkward as it may look now. Those three, along with OG Anunoby, Miles McBride, and Josh Hart all averaging over 12 points per game in the Knicks’ last five. There are just so many angles the Knicks can hit you from. I don’t know how the Hornets slow them down a second time in a row.

The Knicks defense hasn’t been as good as you’d expect from a Tom Thibodeau coached team, but I don’t think that will really matter given how poorly the Hornets have been shooting the ball lately.

If there’s one bit of solace–the Hornets played the Knicks down to the wire in their NBA Cup game last Friday. They did a good job forcing turnovers and keeping everyone except Jalen Brunson mostly under wraps. They’ll need to find to do that for a second time in a row in this match-up while also finding a way to make more shots.