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NBA Monday betting preview: Lay the points with Knicks, Suns

Nathaniel S. Butler / National Basketball Association / Getty

There's just over a month left in the NBA's regular season as some teams fade into tanking obscurity and others make desperate pushes for the postseason. Here are our favorite plays against the spread Monday.

Lakers @ Knicks (-2, 206)

The Knicks haven't beat the Lakers since 2019; they haven't done so as favorites since 2017. So why bet on that result this time around?

The easy answer is that Los Angeles simply isn't worth betting without LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers are 5-7 ATS since James suffered an injury on March 20, posting a 16th-ranked net rating of minus-0.6 in that span. The Knicks, meanwhile, have been the NBA's seventh-best team in net rating (plus-5.0) with an 8-4 ATS mark over that same stretch.

The duo of RJ Barrett and Julius Randle has been enough to complement one of the league's most tenacious defenses, which should be able to contain a snakebitten Lakers roster.

Pick: Knicks -2

Bulls @ Grizzlies (-2.5, 229)

Don't sleep on the Bulls, who are within striking distance of the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot and have played like a team intent on stealing it after a busy trade deadline.

Chicago is 5-2 ATS in seven games since March 31, a stretch that began a few days after the team acquired All-Star center Nikola Vucevic from the Magic. The Bulls are also 17th in net rating during that span despite facing one of the toughest schedules in the league.

The Grizzlies have been impressive against the number of late, but they've struggled defensively. That's a major concern against the red-hot Zach LaVine and the rest of the Bulls' gunners.

Pick: Bulls +2.5

Rockets @ Suns (-12, 228.5)

It's hard to find a game more attractive to bet than this one, which features the league's best and worst teams ATS in a tailor-made spot for bettors.

The Suns have been inconsistent lately but are still an NBA-best 32-19-1 ATS on the year. They also own the top-ranked offense and sixth-best defense since Feb. 1. Both were on display in Saturday's 28-point win over the Wizards, which marked Phoenix's seventh ATS win in nine tries as a double-digit favorite.

The Rockets, meanwhile, are an NBA-worst 17-36 ATS and a miserable 7-25 ATS since Feb. 6, posting by far the worst net rating (-11.9) of any team in the league. When a matchup is this lopsided, lay the points. Double-digit favorites are 61-27-3 ATS (69.3%) on the season and 27-11 ATS (71.1%) since March 14.

Pick: Suns -12

C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.

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