Knicks host Nets at the Garden as 14.5-point favorites, trying to stop a slide at 2-4

The New York Knicks will try to climb out of a 2-4 start Monday night when the Brooklyn Nets come to Madison Square Garden for a 7:30 p.m. tip. It is the first of four meetings between the city rivals this season. According to ESPN's game preview, New York is 10th in the Eastern Conference and Brooklyn is 15th at 1-5.

Both teams have injury news. ESPN lists Knicks guard Jose Alvarado as day to day with an ankle injury. Brooklyn will be without Egor Demin, who is out with a leg injury, and Mikel Brown Jr., who is sitting out for rest. Losing two young guards thins out a Nets backcourt that was already the weaker side of this matchup.

The gap between these franchises was huge last season. ESPN's preview notes that New York went 53-29 in 2025-26, scored 116.5 points per game and allowed 110.1. Brooklyn finished 20-62 and won only eight road games. So far this season, the Knicks haven't played like the team that built that record.

What it means for Monday

New York's six games have mostly been close. The Knicks have scored 642 points and allowed 646, so they are four points underwater for the season. Three of their four losses came by six points or fewer: 106-100 at home to Philadelphia, 107-103 in Boston, and 98-93 in Philadelphia on Saturday. The other loss was 111-102 to Orlando at home. The wins came 111-97 over Detroit and 133-127 in Chicago. The Knicks are 1-2 at the Garden. Brooklyn is 1-2 on the road and comes in off its first win of the season.

That record makes the size of the line stand out. Across the 12 venues on our board for the game, the Knicks are favored by 14.5 points, which matches the number on ESPN. Novig has New York at -809 on the moneyline and Brooklyn at +733, which puts the Knicks' win chance at about 89 percent. New York hasn't won a game by 15 or more this season. Its largest margin was the 14-point win over Detroit.

On the spread, Novig prices the Nets at +102 with 14.5 points. The best Brooklyn number anywhere is Pinnacle's +15 at -112, so the venues trade half a point against a few cents of price. The Knicks are -106 at -14.5 on Novig. Sportsbook hold on the spread ranges from 2.8 to 5.0 percent. Moneyline hold runs 3.8 to 5.5 percent.

Novig lists the total at 220.5, with -102 on both sides. ESPN's preview and BetMGM both have it at 221.5, and BetMGM's under at that number, priced at -110, is the best under on the board. Total hold ranges from 3.4 to 4.8 percent. Five of the Knicks' six games have finished below 220.5. Their games have averaged about 214.7 combined points, and only the 260-point game in Chicago went well over. Sportsbook total markets range from 3.4 to 4.8 percent in hold.

The matchup sets up for New York to stop the slide against a short-handed, last-place opponent. The question is whether the Knicks can turn their close games into a comfortable win, which they haven't done yet this season. After Monday, they host Chicago on Wednesday.