A profitable NBA betting situation pops up on Monday night between a pair of losing teams in the Eastern Conference. The New York Knicks (8-16) are in last place in the Atlantic division and host the Washington Wizards (9-14), who are currently in 4th place in the Southeast division where the Charlotte Hornet (11-12) lead the worst division in the league. The Wizards open a four-game Eastern road trip at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Dec. 3.

Washington Wizards -1.5
New York Knicks +1.5
Total: 229

Man, are there some bad basketball teams in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn (8-16), New York (8-16), Chicago (5-19), Cleveland (4-18), Washington (9-14), Atlanta (5-18). Six teams playing below .400 basketball, and that does not include Miami (9-13). The Western Conference has just one team playing sub-.400 ball (Phoenix, 4-19), and just four teams playing below .500 basketball!

Two games on Monday night feature those loveable (laughable?) losers with the Knicks hosting the Wizards and the Brooklyn Nets (-6) hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers. Those four teams rank bottom eight in the NBA in defensive efficiency, with the Cavaliers and Nets bottom three.

The Wizards have a very poor rebounding rate, but the Knicks are one of the worst shooting teams in the league, ranking No. 29 in effective FG% and No. 25 in offensive efficiency.

The Knicks and Wizards meet for the first time this season, but following a 1-7 start, Washington is at least playing better basketball and tipped off December with a 102-88 beating of Brooklyn. The Wizards two star guards led the way again with John Wall (30 points) and Bradley Beal (22 points) logging the most minutes and taking the most shots. Those two lead the Wizards in scoring with each just over 21 points per game.  

The Knicks have actually won four of their last six games including a 136-134 overtime win against Milwaukee as an 8-point home underdog Dec. 1. Point guard Emmanuel Mudiay had a season-high 28 points in the victory, and recall he did not play the opening two weeks of the season due to a sprained ankle.  

However, the Knicks recent win triggers an NBA situation that has gone 9-0 ATS in the last nine tries playing against the home team. The close home win combined with exerted energy and the negative stat profiles on New York has us playing against the Knicks tonight.

Here’s the situation:

Play against a home underdog that is a losing team (sub-.500), and won their most recent game at home by 3 points or less.

A Sports Data Query Language (SDQL) search shows these losing home teams have really struggled both SU and ATS. These teams have gone: 

SU:
57-171 (-7.61, 25.0%)
 
ATS:
83-145-0 (-2.53, 36.4%)
 
A large sample size of more than 225 games shows teams in this situation have won the game just 25% of the time and cover the point spread just 36% of the time. This situation is also on a 9-0 ATS streak to last season including 4-0 this season.

Go to the window on the Washington Wizards and bet on the better back court tandem of John Wall and Bradley Beal. Let’s profit from the (Madison Square Garden) experience and positive profile.