Two of the top teams in the East will battle it out Sunday night as the New York Knicks (38-27, 5th in the East) take on the Boston Celtics (45-19, 2nd in the East). The Celtics will host this one at the TD Garden, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 pm ET.
The Celtics are the favorite in this one playing at home. They are -215 to win, while the Knicks’ moneyline sits at +180. The spread features New York as 5-point underdogs, and the over/under for total points is 227.5 (-110).
Knicks Look To Keep Rolling
Winners of eight straight, the New York Knicks are the hottest team in the NBA right now. They will look to keep their streak intact as they play on the road Sunday. They are 19-12 away from Madison Square Garden this season.
Offensively, the Knicks rank 12th in the NBA, averaging 115.2 points per game. They are led by Julius Randle, who is averaging 25.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game.
Other major contributors include Jalen Brunson (23.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists), RJ Barrett (19.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists), and Immanuel Quickley (13 points, four rebounds, 3.1 assists).
On the defensive end, the Knicks rank ninth overall, allowing opponents an average of 112.1 points per game.
Boston Trying To Keep Pace With Bucks
After losing 115-105 at home to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, the Celtics will look to bounce back at the TD Garden, where they are 25-8 this season. Given they also sit just a half-game back of the Bucks for first in the East, Boston knows every game at this point in the season is crucial.
Boston’s offense is led by the dual threat of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. For Tatum, he is averaging 30.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game. In 52 games, Brown is averaging 26.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game.
As a unit, the Celtics rank fourth in the NBA in scoring, averaging 117.5 points per game (120.6 at home).
On the defensive end, the Celtics are almost equally as good. They rank eighth in the NBA in scoring defense, allowing opponents an average of 112.1 points per game (111.9 at home).
Take The Knicks And The Points
Looking at the trends, the Knicks are 8-0 both straight up and against the spread in their last eight games. They are also 4-1 against the spread in their last five road games. Still, in their last 15 games at the TD Garden, they are just 4-11 against the Celtics.
As for Boston, they are 8-3 in their last 11 games and 5-1 in their last six home games. Still, in their last five games overall, they are just 1-4 against the spread.
For as good as Boston has been this season, it is just really hard to ignore the roll that the Knicks have been on. Boston might be able to stop the Knicks’ winning streak, but five points seems like an awful lot to spot such a hot team.
Take New York and the +5 points (-110) in this one.
