New York Knicks vs Los Angeles Lakers Odds, Picks & Player Props for Dec. 18

Mar 12, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) rebounds the ball against New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) and guard Immanuel Quickley (5) in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsThe New York Knicks visit the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday nightThe Lakers have a litany of injuries, including LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who are both “questionable”See the Knicks vs Lakers odds, player props, and predictions

The comparatively-healthy New York Knicks (14-11, 7-8 away, 12-11-2 ATS) continue a five-game road trip on Monday night when they meet the Los Angeles Lakers (15-11, 10-2 home, 12-15 ATS) at crypto.com Arena at 7:40 pm PT/10:40 pm ET.

With seven different player listed on their injury report (more on that later), the Lakers are nonetheless 4.5-point home-court favorites on Monday night.

New York Knicks vs Los Angeles Lakers Odds

New York is a +160 underdog to win straight-up in Monday’s NBA odds while the game total is 234.5.

The NBA public betting splits for Knicks/Lakers are heavily skewed to LA. The Lakers are, so far, getting 57% of ATS handle and 76% of moneyline handle, despite the questions surrounding who will be able to suit up.

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Lakers Dealing with Litany of Injuries

No team in the league has a longer injury report than the Lakers on Monday night, but it’s not all terrible news. LeBron James (calf) and Anthony Davis (hip/groin) are both listed as questionable while D’Angelo Russell (head) is probable. Los Angeles will be without Gabe Vincent (6.0 PPG, 3.0 APG) Jalen Hood-Schifino (2.8 PPG, 1.2 RPG) while Christian Wood (7.4 PPG, 6.0 RPG) is questionable and Jarred Vanderbilt 1.0 PPG) is probable.

Davis and Russell both missed LA’s embarrassing 129-115 loss to  San Antonio on Friday, the Spurs’ first win in 18 games. James scored in ineffective 23 points on 7-of-17 shooting and was a -28 while on the floor.

The Lakers have now lost two of three since winning the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament on Dec. 9, also falling 127-125 at Dallas on Dec. 12 before edging the Spurs (122-119) in the first of their two-game set on Dec. 13.  James, Davis, and Russell all played in the loss to the Mavericks, while LeBron missed the win over San Antonio the next day.

While the Lakers are an exceptional 10-2 straight-up at home, they are only 5-6 ATS at crypto.com Arena. The Knicks are 7-7-1 ATS away from home.

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Knicks Struggling to Find Consistency

New York has alternated wins and losses over its past five, most-recently getting demolished 144-122 by the red-hot LA Clippers on Saturday in the same arena they’ll  be playing in on Monday night. At 14-11 overall, they currently occupy the East #6 seed in the NBA playoff bracket. They have generally been beating the teams they should and losing to the upper-echelon, going 9-2 against teams currently under .500 and 4-10 against plus-.500 teams.

New York’s longest win streak this season is just three games (twice) but they have also yet to lose more than two in a row and, after seven of their losses, they’ve responded with a W.

Encouragingly, the Knicks’ best road win of the season came just three days ago in Phoenix, when a sublime 50-point performance from Jalen Brunson propelled the Knicks to a 139-122 win over the Suns, who had Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal in the lineup.

The Knicks currently have the eighth-best offensive rating in the league (117.4), well ahead of the Lakers in 20th (112.2). But with Anthony Davis patrolling the post, the Lakers have a considerably better defensive rating (111.7, eighth) than New York (114.5, 15th).

NYK vs LAL Player Props

Props and odds from the DraftKings Sportsbook app on Dec. 18, 2023. 

With all the questions surrounding Los Angeles in today’s NBA lineups, LeBron is the only Laker listed in the NBA player props for Monday’s game. He has the highest point total on the board at 27.5 and the highest rebound total at 7.5. If he doesn’t play, wagers on his props will be voided.

Brunson (24.5) has the highest point total among the four Knicks listed, two points more than Julius Randle (22.5). Brunson (25.5 PPG) has led the Knicks in scoring in 14 of 25 games this season. Randle, who led the team in scoring last year at 25.1 PPG, has seen his production drop to 22.4 PPG as point guard Brunson shoulders more of the scoring load.

Knicks vs Lakers Prediction

Without knowing more about who is playing and who isn’t, it’s hard to be too bullish on any picks for tonight’s game. But it is impressive how often the Knicks have bounced back from losses with wins, and with Los Angeles likely to be much less than 100% tonight, I am going to put a unit on the Knicks to win straight-up as +160 underdogs.

NYK vs LAL pick: Knicks moneyline (+160)

Sascha Paruk’s 2023-24 NBA betting record:

9-5-2 ATS (+3.03 units)5-4 ML (+1.02 units)3-10 player props (-7.27 units)

All wagers one unit unless expressly stated otherwise.