The Knicks won the first Kristaps Porzingis Bowl in Dallas last week behind perhaps their best performance of the season. Not surprisingly, they followed it up with getting clobbered by the Cavaliers and Bulls. A popular strategy/assumption will be that the Mavericks will add to New York's misery Thursday by exacting their revenge. But in a rare national TV showcase game with coach David Fizdale's job in real jeopardy, look for the Knicks to put up a fight against Porzingis and friends again.

The Mavericks surprisingly lost to the Knicks by four points at home last week, so revenge will be on their mind. Another interesting storyline is that it will be Kristaps Porzingis’ first game back at MSG. The Knicks’ last five games include the victory at Dallas and four losses, each of which was by 18 or more points. I’ll take the Mavericks to bounce back and cover in this rematch.