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The New York Knicks travel to Boston to face the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden on 11/21/18 in a matchup between Eastern Conference teams.
The Knicks have lost their last five games but that’s not surprising. The Celtics meanwhile, have dropped three of five and enter this game with a two game losing streak. Now that’s surprising, given the Celtics’ stature.
Getting Blown Out
Much wasn’t expected of the New York Knicks to start the 2018-19 NBA season primarily because they are without their franchise player Kristaps Porzingis who is still on the mend after tearing his ACL last season. But while the Knicks weren’t expected to win many games this season, not many were expecting that they won’t be competitive.
Tim Hardaway Jr. has been one of the few bright spots for the Knicks this season. Hardaway leads the Knicks with 23.9 points per game. Enes Kanter is putting up a double double with 15.5 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. Guard Trey Burke is third in scoring at 12.1 points per game and he has scored 55 points in 55 minutes over his last two games played.
New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics 11/21/18
Moneyline Odds: Knicks +925, Celtics -1400
Odds from betonline.ag as of 11/21/18
Not The Start That Was Expected
The Boston Celtics entered this season as the top favorites to win the LeBron-less Eastern Conference. After all, they took James’ Cavs to a full seven games in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals even while playing without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. With both All-Stars back this season, the Celtics were supposed to be the dominant team in the East. Well, so far, it’s not the start that was expected of the Celtics.
Kyrie Irving leads the Celtics with 22.4 points, 5.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Jayson Tatum is the second leading scorer st 16.0 points and the sophomore also leads the team in rebounds at 6.9 boards per contest. Marcus Morris is contributing 13.5 points and 6.6 rebounds for the men in green but Gordon Hayward has only been averaging 9.8 points per game so far in his return from injury.
Who Wins?
The Boston Celtics lead the all-time series between these two storied franchises at 291-181 and have taken 9 out of the last 11 meetings against the Knicks including the last three. These teams have already played once this season last October 20, 2018 at Madison Square Garden and the Celtics won 103-101.
On paper, this looks like a massacre waiting to happen but given that the Celtics are 3-6 in their last 9 games played and 9-8 in a season where they were supposed to break out, you have to have some reservations. While the Knicks have lost six in a row, they gave the Western Conference leading Portland Trail Blazers all that they could handle on Tuesday night, losing the game mainly because of missed free throws in the fourth quarter.
It would be nice to see the Knicks pick up a win in Boston but because Boston is healthy right now, I don’t think the Knicks can win, even while the Celtics are struggling. New York simply doesn’t have the firepower to match the Celtics.
We’re picking the Boston Celtics to beat the New York Knicks on 11/21/18.
Other Bets To Make
The Knicks are 7-8-2 ATS in 17 games played this season and are 4-5-1 ATS in 10 road games played so far. The Celtics are 6-11 ATS in 17 games this season and are 4-3 ATS in seven home games played so far. Head to head, the Celtics are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 meetings and are 3-2 ATS in their last 5 meetings in Boston.
New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics 11/21/18
Spread Odds: Knicks +14 (-110), Celtics -14 (-110)
Odds from betonline.ag as of 11/21/18
Picking the winner of this game was easy but Boston winning this game by 15 points? I’m not sure about that. Sure, we talked about this being a bounce back game for the Celtics but given their current form, I just can’t back them on a 14 point spread. The Knicks may be on the road here but i’ll take the points with me.
Prediction Knicks +14 (-110)
The over is 9-8 in New York’s 17 games this season and the total has gone over in 6 out of the Knicks’ 10 road games played so far. The under is 9-8 in Boston’s 17 games played this season and the total has gone under in 4 out of their 7 home games played so far. Head to head, the under is 7-3 in the last 10 games between the Knicks and the Celtics. The under is also 4-1 in their last 5 meetings in Boston.
New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics 11/21/18
Over/Under Odds: Over 217.5 -110, Under 217.5 -110
Odds from betonline.ag as of 11/21/18
The under is 8-3 in the Celtics’ last 11 games played. The Celtics rank 3rd in the NBA in scoring defense while the Knicks rank only 20th in scoring offense. The Celtics are going to dictate the pace in this game. With Boston ranking 24th with 101.3 possessions per game, this is going to be a low scoring affair like their first meeting.
Prediction: Under 217.5 -110
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