Tip-off: Friday, 7:00 p.m. EDT
Line: New York -4, Total: 211.5

The red-hot Knicks look to add to their five-game win streak, but may have to do it without Amar’e Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups. The not-so-hot Nets have some major injury problems of their own, as Deron Williams Anthony Morrow and Kris Humphries are all questionable for Friday’s game.

With four games left and the sixth or seventh seed being basically irrelevant (Heat and Celtics are tied), the Knicks will most likely rest a banged-up Stoudemire (ankle) and Billups (thigh). New York would still love to charge into the playoffs on a winning streak and let momentum possibly take it to a first-round upset. The Knicks had an impressive road win Wednesday beating the 76ers 97-92 behind 31 points from Carmelo Anthony (25.5 PPG). The five-game win streak is New York’s longest since it won eight in a row Nov. 28-Dec. 12. If Billups is unable to play, Toney Douglas (10.5 PPG) will have to step up at point guard and hit big shots as he did Wednesday when he scored seven points in the final 1:47.

Williams (wrist), Morrow (knee) and Humphries (foot) all missed Wednesday's 116-109 loss at Detroit and their statuses are unknown for Friday’s game. In the loss to Detroit, Brook Lopez (20.0 PPG) exploded for 39 points on 14-of-20 shooting. Against the Knicks this year, Lopez is averaging 27.0 PPG. Anthony Morrow (13.2 PPG) could be a big loss if unable to play, considering the sharp-shooting youngster dropped 30 points in the March 30 loss to New York. Kris Humphries (10.0 PPG 10.4 RPG), who may better be known as Kim Kardashian’s boyfriend, gives the Nets an added toughness on the glass inside. With injuries on both teams, the team with the better bench should come out victorious in this battle of the replacements.

New York has been good against the spread on the road going 24-13 ATS (65%) and also very good against division opponents (10-4 ATS). One thing that has plagued the Knicks this year has been their inability to beat bad teams (18-21 ATS). New Jersey has been average in home games (19-18 ATS), but horrible versus division opponents at 4-10 ATS. The Nets don’t want to get into a shootout as they did last meeting, considering they are 15-23 ATS (40%) against teams that score 99.0 PPG or more. One trend leaning toward New Jersey is that the Nets are 22-15 ATS (60%) against teams with a winning record. With all the injuries, I like New York to win and cover considering it will still have a star (Carmelo Anthony) left in the lineup to carry the scoring load.

This highly-rated FoxSheets trend also sides with the Knicks.

Play On - Road favorites (NEW YORK) - after going over the total by 42 or more points total in their last five games, a marginal winning team (51% to 60%) playing a losing team. (29-6 over the last 5 seasons.) (82.9%, +22.4 units. Rating = 3*).