Thursday, December 18, 2014 at 8:00 PM

United Center in Chicago

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Thursday night, the New York Knicks will travel to the United Center to face the Chicago Bulls.

The New York Knicks ended a short 2 game home stand with their 11th loss in their last 12 games as they were blown out by the Dallas Mavericks 107 – 87.  The Knicks really never had a chance as the Mavericks took a 12 point lead after the 1st quarter.  By halftime, the Dallas lead was still 10 points.   The 2nd half was more of the same for the Dallas offense as they continued to shoot the lights out as the Knicks just shot themselves.  Even the most knowledgeable basketball observers can’t even guess when the slide will end for the Knicks.  The “winning attitude” that former Lakers Derek Fisher and Phil Jackson have tried to instill is being resisted and it looks like there will have to be wholesale changes before the Knicks can emerge from their slump. 

The Chicago Bulls are on the other side of the spectrum from the Knicks but they will also come into this one after a loss in their last game. The Bulls fell to the surging Atlanta Hawks 93 -86 on Monday night.  Atlanta has been impressive in recent weeks and they started strong against the Bulls. Chicago couldn’t keep up with Atlanta and were down by 6 points at the half.  The Bulls picked things up in the 2nd half and they prevented the Hawks from completely pulling away.  Chicago managed to cut the lead to just 3 points with seconds left but they couldn’t get over the hump to extend their 3 game win streak.  Barring a spectacular collapse on Thursday night, the Bulls should have no trouble starting a new win streak at the expense of the Knicks.           

New York Knicks Betting Trends

New York Knicks are 10-17-0 Against the Spread

New York Knicks are 13-13-0 against the Over/Under

Chicago Bulls Betting Trends

Chicago Bulls are 11-13-0 Against the Spread

Chicago Bulls are 12-11-0 against the Over/Under

Injuries to Watch

New York Knicks

12/17/14 G J.R. Smith Heel "?" Thursday vs. Chicago
12/13/14 G Iman Shumpert Shoulder out indefinitely
11/23/14 C Andrea Bargnani Hamstring out indefinitely
11/22/14 F Cleanthony Early Knee out indefinitely

Chicago Bulls

12/17/14 C Joakim Noah Ankle "?" Thursday vs. New York
12/12/14 F Doug McDermott Knee out indefinitely

Tony's Pick: Take Chicago

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