Basketball
Halftime Report
Down three at the end of the first quarter, the Knicks now have the lead. They have jumped out to a 80-70 lead against the Thunder.
The Knicks entered the matchup having won nine straight and they’re just two quarters away from another. Will they make it ten, or will the Thunder step up and spoil it? We’ll know soon.
Who’s Playing
New York Knicks @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Current Records: New York 24-10, Oklahoma City 28-5
How To Watch
- When: Friday, January 3, 2025 at 8 p.m. ET
- Where: Paycom Center — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- TV: NBATV
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $32.00
What to Know
The Knicks are 2-8 against the Thunder since January of 2019 but they’ll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The New York Knicks will head out to face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder at 8:00 p.m. ET at Paycom Center. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as the Knicks come in on nine and the Thunder on eight.
Last Wednesday, the Knicks didn’t have too much trouble with the Jazz as they won 119-103.
Karl-Anthony Towns continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 31 points and 21 rebounds. The match was his third in a row with at least 30 points.
Even though they won, the Knicks struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only six offensive rebounds. They were smoked by their opponents in that department as the Jazz pulled down 14.
Meanwhile, the Thunder strolled past the Clippers with points to spare on Thursday, taking the game 116-98. Oklahoma City was down 40-24 with 8:38 left in the second quarter but they still came back for the handy 18-point victory.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was his usual excellent self, earning 29 points plus eight assists and two steals. He is on a roll when it comes to points, as he’s now scored 29 or more in the last three games he’s played. Jaylin Williams, on the other hand, was considerably less helpful: he went 0-6 from deep.
New York has been performing incredibly well recently as they’ve won ten of their last 11 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 24-10 record this season. As for Oklahoma City, they pushed their record up to 28-5 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home.
While fans of both were happy after their last outing, their bettors probably weren’t as neither team covered. Looking forward, the Thunder are the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 4.5 points. This contest will be their 26th straight as the favorites (so far over this stretch they are 16-9 against the spread).
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday’s contest: The Knicks have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 38.8% of their threes per game. It’s a different story for the Thunder, though, as they’ve only made 34.5% of their threes this season. Given the Knicks’ sizable advantage in that area, the Thunder will need to find a way to close that gap.
Odds
Oklahoma City is a 4.5-point favorite against New York, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Thunder as a 5-point favorite.
The over/under is 222 points.
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Series History
Oklahoma City has won 8 out of their last 10 games against New York.
- Mar 31, 2024 – Oklahoma City 113 vs. New York 112
- Dec 27, 2023 – Oklahoma City 129 vs. New York 120
- Nov 21, 2022 – New York 129 vs. Oklahoma City 119
- Nov 13, 2022 – Oklahoma City 145 vs. New York 135
- Feb 14, 2022 – Oklahoma City 127 vs. New York 123
- Dec 31, 2021 – Oklahoma City 95 vs. New York 80
- Mar 13, 2021 – New York 119 vs. Oklahoma City 97
- Jan 08, 2021 – Oklahoma City 101 vs. New York 89
- Mar 06, 2020 – Oklahoma City 126 vs. New York 103
- Jan 21, 2019 – Oklahoma City 127 vs. New York 109
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