San Antonio at New York

After losing both a game and Tim Duncan yesterday in Detroit the San Antonio Spurs will look to regroup as they travel to Madison Square Garden Monday Night to take on the New York Knicks. The Spurs lost to the Pistons 110-101 and lost Duncan to a sprained ankle in the first quarter. He is listed as week-to-week. For the Knicks it is their second game in a row versus a top team. Saturday night they went to Miami and lost 97-82 as an 11-point underdog. The Knicks were at a scheduling disadvantage there as they had played and won in Atlanta the night before. So this is the third game in four nights for New York as it is for San Antonio which defeated Charlotte at home Friday night 93-76. The loss to the Heat dropped the Knicks to 27-34 on the season. They trail Philadelphia and Orlando by four games in the race for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. New York is just three down in the loss column, though, so have hopes of still making the playoffs if they could string together a few wins. Unfortunately, the Knicks have dropped three of their last four with all the losses coming against top-flight competition. The Knicks lost last Sunday at home to Western Conference power Seattle 90-80. Then they lost to Miami at home on Tuesday night by a bucket, 98-96. Before the loss to Seattle, though, the Knicks had won five-of-six overall and were riding a seven-game home win streak. They were 5-2 ATS in those seven contests and 4-2 ATS in that stretch where they won five-of-six. They played the Spurs this year in November, losing at San Antonio 99-81 as an 11-point underdog. Despite the loss to Detroit, San Antonio still sits atop the Southwest Division with a record of 50-16. The Spurs had won three in a row and eight-of-10 before their loss to the Pistons. They are 5-6 ATS over that 11-game stretch and 4-4 S/U and ATS over their last eight away as well. Ginobli is still hurting a bit so Parker will be their offense. If Crawford and Marbury commit on the defensive end tonight, the Knicks can win this game. Two stars on the Knicks vs. a tired and banged up San Antonio squad.