The Phoenix Suns and the New York Knicks go from carving up turkeys on Thanksgiving Day to squaring off this Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Will the Suns extend their incredible win streak? Or, will the Knicks trip up Phoenix?
Catch this game live on Saturday, November 27, at 8 AM, Manila time.
Away: Phoenix Suns (15-3/7-1 on the road)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Chris Paul
- SG: Devin Booker
- SF: Mikal Bridges
- PF: Jae Crowder
- C: Deandre Ayton
Who’s going to stop the Suns? By beating the Cleveland Cavaliers, 120-115, last Thursday on the road, Phoenix entered Thanksgiving Day carrying a 14-game undefeated streak. Devin Booker made sure the Suns sustain their unbeaten run by dropping 35 points on 14-of-21 shooting from the field against the Cavs, while Chris Paul mustered a double-double of 17 points and 12 assists.
During their scorching win streak, the Suns have gotten 23.6 points per game from Booker, and he could come up huge again this Saturday, especially if he feeds off the momentum from his performance in the Cavs game. As a team, Phoenix is manufacturing 1 2.3 points per game and shoots 47.9 FG% — the best in the NBA, thus far this season. It’s as though the Suns have unlocked the code this season and are simply on cruise control. At some point, they are going to lose, but the Knicks might not be the one to stop Phoenix. The Suns are 16-5-1 ATS in the last 22 meetings with the Knicks.
Home: New York Knicks 10-8/5-5 at home)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Kemba Walker
- SG: Evan Fournier
- SF: RJ Barrett
- PF: Julius Randle
- C: Mitchell Robinson (questionable)
It’s been a wild ride so far for the Knicks this season. And in their last game Wednesday, they scored a 106-100 home win against the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers to go 3-3 over their past six games overall. The Knicks are staying at home for Saturday’s game against the Suns, so they will have two full days of rest by the time they face the red-hot Suns.
Apart from the fact that the Knicks will have no considerable problems when it comes to fatigue going into this meeting with Phoenix, another thing going for New York is a positive trend showing that it has covered 10 times in its last 13 games after 2-3 days of rest, dating back to the 2020-21 NBA season. Julius Randle is playing well of late, as he seems to be rounding into his 2020-21 season form. He’s scored 54 points and collected 26 rebounds over the last two games. He should be a problem even for a Phoenix team that’s pretty good defensively. Speaking of which, the Knicks are allowing 106.4 points per game this season and are third overall in opponents’ shooting percentage (42.6%).
PREDICTIONS:
Spread: The Suns remain hot and win anew. Phoenix should cover (-3).
Over/Under: The Suns will probably dominate early and let the Knicks help the Over (216.5) hit in garbage time.
