Raptors vs Knicks Prediction, Pick Today | Monday, Dec. 11

Here's everything you need to know about Raptors vs. Knicks on Monday, Dec. 11 — our expert prediction and betting picks for today.

The Toronto Raptors are in a backslide, to say the least. They enter play on Monday with five losses in six games, most recently coming on the road in Charlotte on Friday. Now, they'll look to avenge a loss from earlier in the month when they take on what could be a shorthanded Knicks side.

Do the Raptors have a chance here with Jalen Brunson and Mitchell Robinson on the injury report?

Let's get to our Raptors vs. Knicks prediction and pick.

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There's really not a whole lot that's changed here for the Raptors as they enter what feels like a must-win game. Their defense remains a league-average one and their offense is one of the seven worst in basketball, by the numbers. While the defense hasn't really let this team down in recent games, however, the Raptors have been downright abysmal on the offensive end with a 105.1 efficiency rating against the Heat last week and a 109.3 efficiency rating versus the Knicks.

In that game, the Raptors actually managed to out-rebound the Knicks, who lead the league in that category, but they shot just 6-for-32 from three and got inefficient nights out of Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby while receiving nothing from Dennis Schroder.

The Raptors' only real strength this season has been their ability to defend the mid-range jumper, where they are allowing just 40% shooting to rank sixth in the NBA. That should theoretically work in their favor here against the Knicks, but their three-point defense did let them down last time against New York and could relent once more here.

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The Knicks, as noted above, are in the midst of what's a slightly concerning injury situation. They've just lost Robinson, their starting center, for several months and currently have Brunson listed on the injury report with a sprained left ankle, which he suffered on a meaningless inbounds pass late in the Knicks' loss to the Bucks last week. In addition, Immanuel Quickley has been added to the injury report with knee inflammation.

The key to this game for the Knicks is going to be their ability to exploit this Raptors 3-point defense, and it's going to be a difficult task if they have to go without Brunson and Quickley here. The Knicks have been steady from three of late, aside from their loss to Milwaukee, but their 3-point defense has let them down in big moments. Brunson and Quickley figure to be a big part of turning their success around on that front, but if one or both of them are missing here it's bad news for the Knicks.

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The line hasn't moved much here since Quickley has been announced as questionable, just dropping from Knicks -4.5 to Knicks -4. I see that as a pretty crucial development, given it means at the very least that New York has two guards playing at less than 100% in a matchup which is already quite tight.

Toronto may be in the middle of an awful run, but against the Knicks last week we saw this team out-rebound the best rebounding team in the league and really play quite well on offense around the rim. The Raptors should be able to limit the Knicks from mid-range, and I think they'll see some positive regression on the shooting front as it's hard to shoot worse than 18.8% from deep.

That's especially true against a team which has been generous against the three and which is dealing with several injuries, and the injury to Robinson will threaten to put the Knicks behind the 8-ball on the glass as well.

The Knicks may be at home here, but they're just 4-4-1 against the spread at Madison Square Garden and find themselves in a perilous spot against Toronto.

Pick: Raptors +4