The Lakers are 9-13, have lost three in a row, and Steve Nash is still in street clothes. Mike D’Antoni is frustrated, and there’s Pau Gasol trade chatter daily even though the Lakers said they wouldn’t trade them, but on the plus side, Kobe Bryant is having the best season from the field – 48.8 percent FGs, 39.3 percent from deep – of his career.

The Knicks are headed in the opposite direction: 16-5, best record in the East, undefeated at home, can’t miss from downtown, and have beat the Heat twice by 20 each time. Charles Barkley thinks they’re good!

Obvious thought: this one could get ugly for the unraveling Lakers. A 20+ point loss in the Garden on TNT on an otherwise slow sports night would have the internet buzzing tomorrow, for sure.

Which is why the play is probably the Lakers +6.5, even though they’re just 2-7 on the road.