Knicks host Bulls, losers of five straight, with a chance to get back to .500

The New York Knicks have a chance to get back to .500 on Wednesday night. The opponent at Madison Square Garden is a Chicago Bulls team that has lost five straight and sits 1-6, 13th in the Eastern Conference. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. Eastern, according to ESPN's game preview.

New York is 3-4 and eighth in the East. That is a slow start for a team that went 53-29 last season and 30-10 at home. The Knicks lost four of their first five, then won two of their last three, most recently a 103-90 home win over Brooklyn. These teams met a week ago, and the Knicks won 133-127 in Chicago on Oct. 29. Jalen Brunson scored 38 points that night, and Norman Powell led the Bulls with 30.

The main injury question is on Chicago's side. ESPN's preview listed center Nic Claxton as out with a hamstring injury. CBS Sports later reported that he had been upgraded to questionable for Wednesday, the first time he has carried that tag this season. Claxton is still waiting to make his Bulls debut. CBS Sports noted that if he plays, he may be on limits early. The Knicks have no one on the injury report.

What it means for Wednesday

The last result helps explain why the Knicks are such heavy favorites. New York scored 133 in Chicago without much trouble, and the Bulls have not won since. Chicago is 1-4 on the road. The Knicks are 2-2 at home, and their three wins have come by 13, 6 and 14 points. Three of their four losses were by six points or fewer, two of them to Philadelphia, so most of the damage has come in close games against good teams. Chicago is not one of those teams right now.

The board reflects that. Across the 12 venues on this site's game page, New York is favored at -525 on Novig, where Chicago is +506. On the spread, Novig has the Knicks at -11.5 for -106. The best price on that same number is -104 at Pinnacle. Taking the other side, Chicago is +11.5 at +102 on Novig, and FanDuel has the widest number at +12.5 for -110. So the venues are only about a point apart on the margin.

The total sits at 233.5 on Novig, with the over at -104 and the under at even money. The other venues spread out a little around that number. BetRivers has the over at 232.5 for -134, and theScore Bet has the under at 234.5 for -110. Sportsbook hold runs from 2.9% to 5.0% on the spread and 3.4% to 4.9% on the total. On the moneyline it is higher, 3.8% to 5.7%.

A total that high fits with how the first meeting went: the two teams combined for 260 points in Chicago. The Knicks have mostly played lower-scoring games since then. They have not topped 111 points in any of their other six games, and they held Brooklyn to 90 last time out. If Claxton is cleared and plays limited minutes, Chicago's frontcourt gets some help, but he has not played yet this season. With a win, New York would go to 4-4 before a trip to Cleveland on Saturday.