T.M. Selection: New York Knicks.

I like the New York Knicks to cover the spread against the Houston Rockets in this game on Thursday. The Knicks have lost 4 games in a row and I think they are going to bounce back big in this game. They haven't been winning games lately but they have looked a lot better on the court ever since taking Kemba Walker out of the rotation. They haven't let an opposing team score 113+ points in 3 games in a row but 2 of those games they did not give up more than 105 points. Thibodeaux has this team moving in the right direction preaching the defense to his players so I expect their defensive efforts to keep getting better and better in every game. The Rockets have looked really bad in most of their games this year, they only have 9 wins and 7 of those wins all came in a row on a big win streak they went on. They have started to look bad in their games again lately and have only won 1 game in their previous 4. The Rockets are also missing a lot of starters in this game and even if Gordon and Wood end up playing, it is not going to be enough to beat the Knicks here when they won't even be at 100%. The Rockets just lost their most recent game to the Cavaliers by 30+ points and they didn't even get to 90 points in that game. I think the Knicks are going to play great defense in this game and ensure that they break out of their bad run with a big win against the Rockets who are 1 of the worst teams in the league already and are missing key players here. I like the Knicks to cover the spread here.

T.M. Prediction: 107-92 Knicks.