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The Boston Celtics get their early rematch with the New York Knicks. It's time to continue our NBA odd series with a Celtics-Knicks prediction and pick.
These two teams are meeting for the fourth and final time this season already. These rivals have put on a show for the NBA to witness, although, it's more so from the Knicks side of things. The Boston Celtics were up 25 points against the Knicks on Thursday night. The Celtics went on to blow their fourth 19-point or more lead this season. This is a trend that continues to happen with Boston and it's one they need to figure out ASAP. Even before this year, they've blown 20+ leads regularly.
Even Fournier dropped a career-high 41 points against the Celtics Thursday night and he just couldn't miss. He single handily brought the Knicks back on his own by draining every shot he took. The Celtics couldn't do anything about it, and on their offensive end, couldn't get to the basket to save their lives. Boston pulled up and shot contested threes the entire fourth quarter and that is what lost them the game. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are two superstars that need to get better at finishing games. It must be brutal to continue to dominate three quarters but absolutely trample in the fourth quarter. Either way, both of these teams have a lot of work to do to get back into the playoff picture.
Here are the Knicks-Celtics NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NBA Odds: Knicks-Celtics Odds
New York Knicks: +7 (-110)
Boston Celtics: -7 (-110)
Over: 207.5 (-110)
Under: 207.5 (-110)
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Why The Knicks Could Cover The Spread
I find this a little disrespectful for the Knicks to be given seven points for this spread. New York clearly has the Celtics number this season, although, the Celtics should have won all three games if you were paying attention. Anyway, New York comes into this game as the underdog after just coming back and defeating the Celtics the game prior. Both teams are 4-5 against the Atlantic Division. The Knicks need to find a way to improve that if they want to make a run for the playoffs, same with Boston.
NY won the game against Boston without Kemba Walker and Derrick Rose. The former Celtic hasn't been on his game much for the Knicks, but Rose has been. They will miss both of them again tonight but they shouldn't fear, because Fournier is here! Fournier will look to continue his run of success against his former squad in Boston as well. Are you seeing a trend, here?
Why The Celtics Could Cover The Spread
This Celtics are given a lot of points here for a team that can't finish games. The Celtics are usually very good at TD Garden in Boston. They are 11-8 on the season which isn't as good as their normal standards. The Celtics will desperately need their home-court advantage Saturday to try and go even with the Knicks in the season series. NY leads 2-1 as they have alternated each game. The Celtics are 7-10 against teams with losing records this season. That needs to change fast.
Tatum and Brown will be the go-to options once again and we will see if they can do a better job of closing out games. Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III continue to show up on defense, but they will need their offensive ability to win this game as well. Look for Williams to keep blocking shots and controlling the rebounds. He's becoming a very productive center in the NBA.
Final Knicks-Celtics Prediction & Pick
I am going to take the Knicks here and this is an easy pick. We all know what will happen once the fourth quarter approaches. It doesn't matter if Boston is up 20+, the Knicks will find a way to cover this spread. Take the Knicks and the over here.
Final Knicks-Celtics Prediction & Pick: Knicks +7 (-110) & over: 207.5 (-110)
