NBA: Boston Celtics vs. New York Knicks Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Boston Celtics visit their old conference foes, the New York Knicks, on Thursday night. These two teams had high ambitions before the season started, but at the moment, things aren’t anywhere near their original plans. With 18 wins and 20 losses each, they are outside the playoff zone, fighting to reach the play-in tournament. Will they succeed in that? Well, the next couple of weeks might be crucial for both sides, and each win would be worth gold.

Preview

Boston Celtics (18-20, -105) have back-to-back wins against the Phoenix Suns and vs. Orlando Magic from last night, 116-111. Ime Udoka’s boys had to work hard to take down the Magic, and went through overtime to get the win over one of the weakest teams in the league.

Jaylen Brown exploded with 50 points, adding 11 boards and four assists in 46 minutes of play. The fantastic guard shot 19-for-29 from the field, hitting five threes and presenting an enigma for the guests’ defense. We can say that this might have been his best year in the league so far.

Dennis Schroder added 21 buckets with seven assists, while Marcus Smart scored 17 with seven assists and six rebounds. The game was a true roller coaster, with both teams reaching a 14-point lead at some point but failing to break the opponent’s defiance and close the contest.

New York Knicks (18-20, -105) are finally back home following a nasty schedule that saw them traveling all over the USA. Tom Thibodeau’s unit had back-to-back losses in OKC and Toronto before snapping that slide at home against the Pacers, 104-94.

Julius Randle was back, and things immediately became better for the Knicks. The fantastic power forward scored 30 points and 16 rebounds, and four assists against Indiana, being the focal figure in NYK’s game. Not only that, he was very strong in defense, preventing Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner from frequently scoring, limiting them to 20 points combined.

RJ Barrett was fantastic as well, with 32 points and eight boards, giving the pace to the Knicks’ offense and organizing the same. Alec Burks scored 14 points, while Immanuel Quickley added 11 off the bench. The home side outrebounded the Pacers 51-35, which was one of the keys to this win. They would also outscore them from the paint, 54-38.

Head to Head Games

This is the third meeting of these two sides this year. The first was in New York, early on into the campaign, and the Knicks won 138-124 after double overtime. The second was in Boston midway through December, with the Cs taking down their rivals, 114-107.

Prediction

The top pick for us here would be under 208.5 points. NY plays tough defense, and they are slowly completing their roster following a period in which they had to deal with lots of absences. Thibodeau will have more options on how to pressure the already tired Celtics, who had a rough game last night. Overall, these two sides are close when talking about the quality, and in our opinion is much safer to bet on under points than to pick the winner of the matchup.

Pick: Under 208.5 points

Here is the preview for the Warriors vs. Pelicans game.