Why there's a lot of value on the red-hot Knicks, plus other best bets for Monday

There's been plenty made about MLB's new rules already, and I've written about how excited I am to see them in action here before. Saturday was my first chance to see the rules in action, and the early returns are promising.

Baseball has never been boring to me, but I'll admit there has been too much unnecessary downtime in games. It didn't take long to see that with the new rules. The most significant adjustment I faced was remembering to pay more attention. Over the years, I've fallen into the habit of knowing I could look away and not miss anything, but as I found myself doing it Saturday, I was missing pitches.

With the new rules, there's seemingly always something happening, and that's what baseball needed. Yes, people will grumble -- that's an older pastime than baseball itself -- and there will be growing pains, but I can't help but believe these changes will be better for the sport in the long run.

Let's get this money.

�� The Hot Ticket

Celtics at Knicks, 7:30 p.m. | TV: NBA League Pass

• Key Trend: The Knicks are 4-0-1 ATS in their last five games.
• The Pick: Knicks +2.5 (-110)

The NBA had an incredible weekend coming off its All-Star Break, leading many to ponder if the league should take a week off more often. I do wonder if we'd see better overall games if they shortened the regular season or -- God forbid -- had fewer teams make the playoffs. Of course, we all know neither is an option because fewer games means less television money. Anyway, I digress. Enough Old Man Takes, let's get to tonight's game, which I hope is as entertaining as so many of the weekend's contests were.

The Knicks are pretty hot right now. They've won five straight and eight of their last 10. This has solidified their spot outside the play-in range of the Eastern Conference, and they could soon surpass Brooklyn for the No. 5 seed and possibly catch Cleveland for the No. 4 spot. Unfortunately for the Knicks, tonight they play the best team in the East, and the Celtics are similarly playing well. But I think the Celtics are getting a little too much credit with this spread.

When these two met last month in Boston, the Knicks won. If we look at the last 10 games, the Knicks are right behind Boston in net efficiency, so they've played to a similar level. Plus, they're at home here, and while the Knicks have been surprisingly better on the road (both straight up and ATS), the Celtics are playing their third road game in five days, and they have not been as effective on the road as at home this season.

They're 24-7 with a net rating of 9.4 at home and 20-10 with a net rating of 2.9 on the road. That's still the best net efficiency on the road in the NBA, but it's a drastic drop-off and leads me to believe there's more value on the Knicks in this spot than you typically find in an NBA game at this point of the season.

�� College Basketball picks

North Carolina at Florida State, 7 p.m. | TV: ESPN

The Pick: North Carolina -8 (-110) -- North Carolina enters tonight only 18-11 overall and 10-8 in the ACC. It is hanging around the bubble of the NCAA Tournament. Considering this team reached the title game last year, few expected this is where they'd be in late February. But when we look closer, there have been two bad stretches that have upended the entire season.

The Heels started 5-0 before losing four straight games on the road or at neutral sites against good teams. They responded by winning 10 of their next 12 before hitting another rough stretch that saw them lose five of six. They beat Virginia in their last game for their second win in a row and find themselves facing much easier competition tonight. It's on the road, and the Heels have struggled away from home, but this is a Florida State team that has little to play for and is coming off an emotional upset over Miami this weekend. I expect a letdown tonight.

Nevada at Wyoming, 9 p.m. | TV: CBS Sports Network

The Pick: Wyoming +5.5 (-110) -- I'm fairly certain this is the first time in the history of this newsletter we've featured Wyoming basketball in consecutive issues. We nailed the over in Wyoming's game on Friday, so let's see if the Cowboys can keep the momentum going tonight.

This is a tough matchup for Wyoming. It's the worst team in the Mountain West and Nevada is looking to solidify its tournament bid. But this is college basketball, and college basketball things happen. It's Senior Night for Wyoming, so this is a spot Nevada could get caught looking ahead to the weekend's regular-season finale at home against a better UNLV team. Furthermore, Nevada is not a great shooting team, and they've been less effective on the road. That makes it more difficult to trust them as a road favorite.