The New York Knicks begin their five-game road trip on Thursday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The pregame narrative: Los Angeles is running red-hot, and I expect it to win behind a strong Luka Doncic performance. On the other side, look for Karl-Anthony Towns to stuff the stat sheet.
Check out my Knicks vs. Lakers SGP predictions for March 6.
Knicks vs. Lakers predictions
Parlay: Lakers moneyline | Towns over 38.5 PRA | Doncic 3+ threes (+340)
Lakers moneyline (-165): I looked long and hard at teasing up the Knicks as underdogs but got less confident the more I looked into their recent track record.
New York has won six of its last 10 games and it hasn’t been pretty:
- All four losses came by 12-plus points against contending teams (Celtics twice, Cavaliers, Warriors).
- Five of New York’s six wins were by five points or fewer — and three required overtime. Those wins were against the Joel Embiid-less 76ers, Bulls, Hawks, Heat and Grizzlies.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, has won seven straight games while holding opponents to a meagre 103.1 PPG.
The Lakers are a stellar 24-7 at home this season and should have all of their top dogs available.
NBA SGP picks
Towns over 38.5 PRA (-113): On Tuesday, I backed Zion Williamson to clear his 29.5 points/rebounds total against the Lakers in a +360 SGP that cashed.
Zion blew by that mark with 37 points and four rebounds, and I expect KAT to have similar success.
The two players are far from carbon copies of each other, but this is more about matchup opportunity than anything else.
Los Angeles is missing a bona fide centre since trading away Anthony Davis, starting unproven Jaxson Hayes at the No. 5 and Dorian Finney-Smith at the No. 4.
Towns does plenty of damage from the outside, but I expect him to crash and bang in the paint and hoover up rebounds against an undersized lineup.
He’s averaging 24.5 points, 13.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists on the season.
Doncic 3+ threes (-360): Much to the dismay of Mavericks fans, Doncic is looking more and more like the perennial MVP candidate we’re accustomed to with each passing game.
The dynamic point guard has turned up the heat over his last three outings:
- Feb. 28 vs. LAC: 31 points, 3-of-9 from deep
- March 2 vs. LAC: 29 points, 5-of-12 from deep
- March 4 vs. NO: 30 points, 6-of-13 from deep
Doncic has taken at least seven 3s in every game with L.A., which puts us in a great spot from a volume standpoint. Now he’s taking even more — and has begun to make them.
New York has the worst 3-point defence in the NBA (37.5%). Doncic went 7-for-14 from deep against the Knicks the last time he played them.
Picks made at 8:48 a.m. ET 03/06/2025.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.