O2 Arena - London, England
Tip-off: Thursday, 3:05 p.m. ET
Line: Milwaukee -6.5, Total: 198

The Knicks hope to finally snap a 15-game losing streak when they face the Bucks in London on Thursday afternoon.

It’s been an absolutely horrible season for New York, which owns the worst record in the NBA. The club has failed to win a game since Dec. 12, going 4-10-1 ATS in that time. During the losing skid, the Knicks have lost by an average of 14.9 PPG with their offense making fewer than 40% of their field goals in six of those contests. It didn’t get any better when they hosted the Hornets as 7.5-point underdogs on Saturday, as they were destroyed by a 110-82 margin while being outrebound 51-29. New York allowed Charlotte to make 50% FG, marking the 10th time in the past 17 games that an opponent has made at least half of its shots. On the other hand, Milwaukee has been one of the better surprises in the Eastern Conference, winning five of its past eight contests (SU and ATS) behind a defense that has allowed a mere 88.5 PPG in that timeframe. Seven of the team's past nine opponents have shot below 42% FG, but it failed to gain the edge in a defensive battle against the Bulls on Saturday, falling 95-87 as a 6-point underdog while being outrebounded 51-37. This will already be the third meeting between these teams this seasons, with the Bucks winning the first two (SU and ATS) by an average of 8.5 PPG. These clubs are meeting for the second time in 12 days, as they played to a 95-82 result on Jan. 4. Prior to that, the Knicks were 8-1 SU (7-2 ATS) in their previous nine matchups in this series. Some betting trends to keep an eye for Thursday include that New York has gone 22-9 ATS (71%) after four straight games of allowing a shooting percentage of 47%+ since 1996, while the Milwaukee is 9-2 ATS (82%) after an ATS defeat this season. The Knicks’ veterans have had plenty of injuries this season, and C Andrea Bargnani (calf) and PF Amar’e Stoudemire (knee) will miss this game, while SF Carmelo Anthony (knee) is questionable. On the other side of the ball, Milwaukee will be without C Larry Sanders (personal) indefinitely, but both SF Ersan Ilyasova (concussion) and PF Kenyon Martin (chest) have been upgraded to probable.

Can the Knicks finally end their painful losing skid on Thursday? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2014-15 season. StatFox Forecaster has a strong 55% ATS record (100-81-1) in featured games this season. In terms of Best Bets, the experts have a stellar 72% ATS (36-14) record since Jan. 2, led by StatFox Scott, who is a sizzling 76% ATS (13-4) in Best Bets since Dec. 21, improving his record to 56% ATS (32-25) for the season. StatFox Brian is 63% ATS (22-13) in Best Bets since Nov. 29, and is now 56% ATS (32-25) in season Best Bets, while StatFox Gary is 7-2 ATS in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 1, and 57% ATS (32-24) this season.

The Knicks have looked awful in all facets of the game and have scored just 92.9 PPG (2nd-worst in league) as they make 44.1% of their field goal attempts (10th-worst in NBA). Their defense has played just as poorly in giving up 101.9 PPG (9th-worst in league) on 46.7% FG (4th-worst in NBA). SF Quincy Acy (6.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG) has played at least 28 minutes in four of his past five games and has scored in double-figures in three of those contests. He was solid against the Bucks on Jan. 4 while going for nine points, seven rebounds and two steals over 28 minutes in the loss. C Cole Aldrich (5.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG) has played much more in the past five games (23.8 MPG) but is still scoring only 7.2 PPG and 6.8 RPG in that time. In just 20 minutes on the floor the last time the Knicks played Milwaukee, Aldrich was able to make 6-of-10 shots for 12 points while adding seven rebounds. SG Tim Hardaway Jr. (11.0 PPG) had a team-high 17 points against the Bucks two weeks ago, but has made a putrid 7-of-29 threes (24%) in his past five contests. PG Langston Galloway (11.3 PPG, 2.7 APG, 1.3 SPG) has been giving this team some energy since coming up from the D-league and went for 19 points with four rebounds and three assists in just his second game with the team last Thursday.

The Bucks don’t get their victories on the offensive end of the court, as they are scoring a mere 98.5 PPG (10th-worst in league) despite hitting 46.4% of their shots (8th in NBA). Their real strength is defense where they have allowed the seventh-fewest points (97.7 PPG) on 43.8% shooting (6th in league). PG Brandon Knight (18.2 PPG, 5.1 APG, 4.2 RPG, 1.4 SPG) is far and away the top offensive option on this team, and is coming off a solid performance in the loss to Chicago (20 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal). He’s had some issues in his 13 career games against the Knicks though, going for only 14.4 PPG (41% FG), 3.2 APG and 3.1 RPG. SF Giannis Antetokounmpo (11.7 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.0 BPG) has struggled over his past three games where he's averaged just 7.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 1.7 APG. He’s hoping he can regain some of his solid production against a New York team that he tallied 16 points and 12 rebounds against on Jan. 4. C Zaza Pachulia (7.7 PPG, 6.4 RPG) has taken advantage of Larry Sanders' absence with three double-doubles in six January games. One of those came against the Knicks, when he scored 16 points (6-of-12 FG) with 14 rebounds and two steals in the win.