Knicks at Celtics Prediction
The New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics duke it out at the TD Garden on Thursday night.
The New York Knicks will be feeling much better after arresting a four-game slide with a 105-103 home win over the Cavaliers on Tuesday. Julius Randle got hot early and led the way with 36 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, RJ Barrett added 16 points while Jalen Brunson chipped in with 14 points. As a team, the Knicks shot 49 percent from the field and 17 of 33 from the 3-point line as they stormed out of the gates with 34 points in the first quarter to lead for most of the game, before they clamped down defensively and held the Cavaliers to just three points in the final 2:28 to escape with the narrow win in the end.
Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics look to have cooled off from their nine-game win streak as they are now hoping to avoid a third straight defeat after falling short to the Heat in a 98-95 road loss on Tuesday. Jayson Tatum led the team with 31 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, Derrick White added 23 points with six assists while Robert Williams chipped in with 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. As a team, the Celtics shot 43 percent from the field and 10 of 32 from the 3-point line as they held the Heat to just 18 points in the second quarter to build a 14-point lead, but they couldn’t find their offense when it mattered most and scored just 13 points in the fourth quarter to allow the Heat off the hook in the end.
Looking at the betting trends, the Knicks are 26-9 ATS in their last 35 road games, 7-3-1 ATS in their last 11 games against a team with a winning record and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall. The Celtics are 2-5-1 ATS in their last eight games following a loss and 0-4 ATS in their last four games overall.
Head to head, the over is 4-1 in the last five meetings overall and the under is 4-1 in the last five meetings in Boston.
The Knicks are keeping an eye on Evan Fournier who is listed as day to day, while the Celtics are still missing Marcus Smart who is dealing with that ankle injury. The Knicks really needed a win to get their season back on track and they were able to beat the Cavaliers in a gritty win on Tuesday, but they blew a 13-point lead and I don’t see them getting away with that if it happens again. The Celtics are clearly a level below their best with Smart still injured, but they made light work of the Knicks earlier this season and I think they bounce back into form with another win in this one. The line is quite hefty, so while I like the Celtics to win, I’m actually going to lean towards the Knicks and the points as they are 26-9 ATS in their last 35 road games.
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