NBA Sunday Odds: Clippers vs Knicks

Chris Paul finally was back with the Clippers, but it wasn’t much he could do as Los Angeles was manhandled by the Heat on Friday.  The Clippers will have a shot to bounce back this Sunday at 1 PM ET when they face the New York Knicks.
Paul looked rusty and out of sync with his teammates, but of course it was expected knowing he was out for so long. Chauncey Billups (left foot tendinitis), Paul (bruised right kneecap), Blake Griffin (strained left hamstring) all played, but they were ineffective in the contest.

“We lost to a good team over there, but we’re not going to hang our heads,” Paul said. “You never want to make excuses, but they shot the lights out of the ball. We never really made an impact defensively. LeBron, Mario, all those guys were on a rocking chair all night.”

“You can write this off that we got everybody back, and we were a little rusty,” Griffin said. “But we have to be better.”

The Knicks are their next rivals, and New York will be back home after beating the Timberwolves in Minnesota on Friday. Carmelo Anthony had 36 points and nine rebounds in a nice effort by the star.

“This was one of the games we had to win,” Anthony said. “We had to go get it. Our backs were kind of against the wall, being down 11. It was one of those games we didn’t want to look back on saying we should have won this game, kind of like the Wizards game.”

Knicks and Clippers will play the first of two meeting schedule this season.