New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics Prediction, Odds and Picks

Tuesday is fast approaching and that means the NBA regular season is upon us. Opening night takes us to TD Garden for a match-up between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics. The visitors were one of the most active teams during the offseason, can they take down the reigning champs and ruin ring night? Continue reading below to see my New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics predictions.

Bringing in Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns sends a clear message that the Knicks mean business this season. Bridges fixes one of the underlying issues they had last year where they just didn’t have enough versatile defenders out on the wing. Having KAT at the center position gives them someone who can rebound and step out onto the perimeter when needed, I just feel like the Knicks have made huge strides and it’ll show. Last season the Celtics did win 4 of the 5 meetings during the regular season, however the Knicks did win 1 of the 3 games played in Boston.

Boston is once again the clear-cut favorite to win it all, and for good reason. Their core remains basically the same, with only Kristaps Porzingis missing due to injury. Even without the Latvian they went 10-2 SU in the postseason, so I am not expecting them to fall off due to his absence. Jayson Tatum didn’t play much during the Olympics, he’s out to prove his worth after not winning the Finals MVP award last year. The winner over that award, Jaylen Brown, didn’t even get an invite for the tournament in Paris, there’s no doubt he’ll use that as motivation ahead of this season.

Judging by the preseason both teams will be geared up and ready on Tuesday. The Knicks went 4-0, while the Celtics finished 4-1 and with the highest point differential at +16.6 points per game. I’m backing the champs on opening night. They went 37-4 SU at home last year, plus the point differential in the 4 wins over the Knicks was 11 points per game. Celtics to cover.

Knicks vs Celtics prediction: Celtics -5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.