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Case of the Mondays: Knicks Struggling Both On and Off the Court

by - 1/30/2017

Carmelo Anthony New York Knicks

The dog days of the NBA regular season are upon us. A crazy Christmas schedule kept things interesting in the aftermath of the season-opening honeymoon, but now the league is just trudging through a couple more months until the playoffs as college basketball takes center stage. Perhaps no fan-base or team is feeling lower than the New York Knicks at the moment. They are seven games under .500 and doing everything they can to unload Carmelo Anthony prior to the Feb. 23 trade deadline.

All odds provided by BetOnline Sportsbook .

Carmelo Anthony . Four teams (Golden State, San Antonio, Houston, and Cleveland) are hogging so many wins that you don't have to be any good to make the playoffs in either conference. As such, the Knicks are a woeful 21-28 but only 2.5 games out of a postseason spot in the East. But they may not go for it. Instead, they seem more inclined to build for the future with Anthony being shopped around to other clubs as trade bait. New York, which lost to Atlanta 142-139 in quadruple overtime this past Sunday, has an interested partner in the Clippers, but a third team may have to get involved for logistical purposes. Anthony is -195 to play his last regular-season game of the 2016-17 campaign with New York. The field (any other team) is +165.

Colorado Avalanche . Colorado is in the midst of the NHL's longest current losing streak with room to spare. The Avalanche have dropped seven straight contests (Carolina has lost five in a row and Detroit has come up short in each of its last four). They are by far the worst team in the entire league with 28 points, 10 behind lowly Arizona and 21 short of all other clubs. The Avs have won two of their last 19 contests and they do not have a single victory in regulation since Dec. 11. Colorado is +150000 (it might as well be +15000000000000000) to win the Western Conference; Chicago and Minnesota are +300 co-favorites.

Pittsburgh Steelers . Pittsburgh got blown out by New England 36-17 in the AFC Championship earlier this month. During that humiliation, running back Le'Veon Bell rushed only six times for 20 yards before leaving in the first quarter due to a groin injury. Now the Steelers are under investigation by the NFL for failing to put him on the pre-game injury report. Bell had been nursing a minor groin issue in recent weeks, but head coach Mike Tomlin said "it wasn't significant to the point where it affected planning or the anticipation of planning in any way." The Patriots are -3 favorites over Atlanta in Super Bowl LI.

Kentucky . According to a representative from the Guinness Book of World Records who was on hand to measure the noise, Rupp Arena broke the all-time record for crowd noise in an indoor arena when Kentucky hosted Kansas this past Saturday. But that's not why the fans came. They came to see a Wildcat victory, and they went home disappointed. In the marquee matchup of the SEC/Big 12, the Jayhawks prevailed 79-73 after trailing by as many as 12 points during the first half. UK has now lost two in a row, having fallen at Tennessee 82-80 last Tuesday. Kentucky is a +650 favorite to win the National Championship; Kansas is a +800 second choice.

Tiger Woods . A return trip to a tournament he was won seven times could not cure Tiger's problems. Tiger had shown some encouraging signs at last month's Hero World Challenge, when he led the entire field in birdies and briefly contended on Saturday but still finished in third to last place. In his first official PGA Tour start since August of 2015, the 14-time major champion was never in it during this past week's Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Spraying tee shots all over the course, Tiger opened with 76 and a second-round 72 was not good enough as he missed the cut by four shots. Jon Rahm won the event by three strokes at 13-under par. Tiger is +2000 to win the Masters; Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Jason Day are +800 co-favorites.

Rafael Nadal . Had Nadal's dominance of long-time rival Roger Federer continued at the Australian Open on Sunday, the Spaniard would have moved to within two Grand Slam titles of the 35-year-old Swiss. Instead, Federer pulled off a thrilling 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory in the final to capture his fifth title Down Under and the 18th slam of his career. Nadal led Federer 3-1 in the fifth set before losing the last five games of the match. The nine-time French Open winner, who had only one day of rest after outlasting Grigor Dimitrov in a four-hour and 56-minute semifinal battle, remains stuck on 14 slams. Nadal is +250 to win a 10th French Open title this spring; Novak Djokovic is a +180 favorite and Federer is a +2000 fifth choice.

Sevilla FC . Sevilla's La Liga title hopes took a hit on Sunday, when Real Madrid took control atop the table. While Madrid rolled over Real Sociedad 3-0, Sevilla went down to ninth-place Espanyol 3-1. After giving up a penalty-kick goal in the fourth minute, the Red and Whites evened the score in the 20 th minute. But they allowed another goal just prior to halftime and Espanyol's third tally in the 70th minute all but ended the proceedings. Sevilla had been just one point back of Madrid, but it is now four points behind and tied for second with FC Barcelona. Real Madrid is +450 to win the Champions League.

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