Knicks 133, Bulls 127: Brunson's 38 Erases 19-Point Hole

The Knicks walked into the United Center and walked out with a 133-127 win over the Bulls on Wednesday night, but not before making it interesting. New York erased a 19-point deficit behind Jalen Brunson's 38 points, securing a second straight victory. The comeback was fueled by bench minutes, with Mikal Bridges benched as the reserves swung the game. Karl-Anthony Towns appeared to hurt his wrist during the contest, a storyline worth tracking.

Our premium pick: We sold the Knicks as 7.5-point road favorites. They won outright, but the 6-point final margin fell short of the number. That's a loss at the window. The reasoning wasn't wrong — New York was the better team and proved it — but the spread was too rich for a team that needed a 19-point comeback to win. The model's moneyline lean on New York did cash, and its projected 115.5-116.4 scoring range was blown past by a combined 260 points, so the Under lean on the 234.5 total also missed badly. The spread and total both graded as losses; the moneyline graded as a win.

Takeaway: This is a reminder that point differential and opponent scoring averages can tell you who wins without telling you by how much. The Knicks are clearly the stronger side, but laying 7.5 on the road against a team that had been getting blown out meant paying for a blowout that never materialized. In future spots, we'll weigh comeback risk and pace inflation more heavily before backing a road favorite at that price — and we won't assume a leaky defense automatically caps the total.