Halftime Report
Down one at the end of the first quarter, the Spurs now have the lead. Sitting on a score of 58-51, they have looked like the better team, but there’s still two more quarters to play.
If the Spurs keep playing like this, they’ll bump their record up to 16-14 in no time. On the other hand, the Knicks will have to make due with a 19-11 record unless they turn things around (and fast).
Who’s Playing
San Antonio Spurs @ New York Knicks
Current Records: San Antonio 15-14, New York 19-10
How To Watch
- When: Wednesday, December 25, 2024 at 12 p.m. ET
- Where: Madison Square Garden — New York, New York
- TV: ABC
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online streaming: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket Cost: $230.00
What to Know
The Knicks and the Spurs are an even 5-5 against one another since October of 2019, but not for long. The New York Knicks will finish 2024 at home by hosting the San Antonio Spurs at 12:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
Last Monday, the Knicks strolled past the Raptors with points to spare, taking the game 139-125. New York pushed the score to 111-82 by the end of the third, a deficit Toronto cut but never quite recovered from.
Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby were among the main playmakers for the Knicks as the former dropped a double-double on 31 points and ten rebounds and the latter went 13 for 15 en route to 31 points plus seven rebounds. Towns has been hot for a while, having posted ten or more rebounds the last 18 times he’s played. Less helpful for the Knicks was Jalen Brunson’s abysmal 0-5 three-point shooting.
The Knicks were working as a unit and finished the game with 34 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as the Raptors only posted 28.
Meanwhile, the Spurs were within striking distance but couldn’t close the gap on Monday as they fell 111-106 to the 76ers. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for San Antonio in their matchups with Philadelphia: they’ve now lost four in a row.
The Spurs’ loss came about despite a quality game from Victor Wembanyama, who almost dropped a double-double on 26 points and nine rebounds. The game was Wembanyama’s third in a row with at least 30 points.
New York is on a roll lately: they’ve won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 19-10 record this season. As for San Antonio, their defeat dropped their record down to 15-14.
Keep an eye on the arc in Wednesday’s contest: The Knicks have been dynamite from deep this season, having nailed 39.8% of their threes per game. It’s a different story for the Spurs, though, as they’ve only made 34.6% of their threes this season. Given the Knicks’ sizable advantage in that area, the Spurs will need to find a way to close that gap.
The Knicks came up short against the Spurs in their previous matchup back in March, falling 130-126. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Wembanyama, who dropped a double-double on 40 points and 20 rebounds. Back with a vengeance, will the Knicks be able to stop him this time around? There’s only one way to find out.
Odds
New York is a big 9-point favorite against San Antonio, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 9-point spread, and stayed right there.
The over/under is 223.5 points.
See NBA picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.
Series History
New York and San Antonio both have 5 wins in their last 10 games.
- Mar 29, 2024 – San Antonio 130 vs. New York 126
- Nov 08, 2023 – New York 126 vs. San Antonio 105
- Jan 04, 2023 – New York 117 vs. San Antonio 114
- Dec 29, 2022 – San Antonio 122 vs. New York 115
- Jan 10, 2022 – New York 111 vs. San Antonio 96
- Dec 07, 2021 – New York 121 vs. San Antonio 109
- May 13, 2021 – New York 102 vs. San Antonio 98
- Mar 02, 2021 – San Antonio 119 vs. New York 93
- Nov 23, 2019 – San Antonio 111 vs. New York 104
- Oct 23, 2019 – San Antonio 120 vs. New York 111
