New York Knicks vs Los Angeles Clippers Prediction: The Knicks have a chance to extend their streak

The Clippers have lost their last three faceoffs against New York. The Californians have a tough road trip right now, so the Knicks have a chance to extend that nice streak. On the other hand, they will face their third defense of the current season.

The team has had a difficult calendar of late. So far, New York has been doing a great job with the tough test. The Knicks beat Cleveland (105:103), Boston (120:117 (110:110)), and Miami (106:104), only to lose in overtime to the Los Angeles Lakers (123:129 (114:111)) and lost to Brooklyn (115:122), also against a very tough opponent.

Overall, New York is performing at its best and is looking to make the playoffs, sitting seventh in the East. Most importantly, the Knicks are showing a decent level of defense this season, with 112.5 points allowed and a 10th-best efficiency rating.

While the Knicks have the 10th-ranked defense, which no doubt will get even better once Mitchell Robinson returns from injury, the Clippers have the third-best defense in the league at this season stage, with 110.5 points from opponents per game. Breaking down the opponent's offense, the team doesn't always succeed, itself displaying only the 28th-best offense in the league.

In their previous game, the Clippers faced the Milwaukee Bucks on the road. They took a big lead at the beginning of each half, but their opponent proved to be the decisive breakthrough. The Clippers could not stop Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored 54 points, in the first half (105:106).

Before the loss to Milwaukee, the Clippers had won six games out of seven, losing only to Cleveland during that stretch, in a back-to-back format where neither Paul George or Kawai Leonard took the court for the LAC. In the game against the Bucks, the team also claimed victory and lost in many ways illogically. The Clippers' luck may return to the Knicks. All the more so, New York itself hasn't always been able to play its best basketball of late, given the absence, due to injury, of one of its key players, center Mitchell Robinson. We're betting on the Clippers to win their typical low-scoring game.