Teams that split their season series a year ago renew their rivalry on Saturday night when the Boston Celtics meet the New York Knicks in an Atlantic Division matchup at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Knicks (4-4) snapped a three-game losing streak on Friday night with a 106-104 win at Philadelphia. The Celtics (5-3), meanwhile, have won two of three after taking down the Chicago Bulls 123-119 on Friday. Boston is looking to repeat as Eastern Conference champions.
The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Celtics are averaging 102 points per game this season, while the Knicks average 101. Boston is a 5-point favorite in the latest Knicks vs. Celtics odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while the over/under for total points scored is set at 225. Before making any Celtics vs. Knicks picks, be sure to see the NBA predictions and betting advice from SportsLine’s proven computer model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past four seasons. The model enters Week 3 of the 2022-23 NBA season on a stunning 97-65 roll on all top-rated NBA picks that dates back to last season, returning more than $2,400. Anyone following it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Knicks vs. Celtics and just locked in its picks and NBA predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model’s picks. Now, here are several NBA betting lines and trends for Celtics vs. Knicks:
- Celtics vs. Knicks spread: Celtics -5
- Celtics vs. Knicks over/under: 225 points
- Celtics vs. Knicks money line: Celtics -190, Knicks +158
- BOS: The over is 13-3 in the Celtics’ last 16 games playing on zero days rest
- NYK: The Knicks are 16-5 against the spread in their last 21 games playing on zero days rest
- Celtics vs. Knicks picks: See picks at SportsLine
Featured Game | New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics
Why the Celtics can cover
Forward Jayson Tatum is off to a hot start to the year. In Friday’s win over the Bulls, he registered a double-double, scoring 36 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Tatum earned the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week ending Oct. 23 after averaging 34.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, one assist and 1.67 blocks in 37.7 minutes per game. It was the ninth time in his career that he had been named Player of the Week. After scoring 40 points in a 126-120 win at Orlando on Oct. 22, he became the first Celtics player in franchise history to record over 100 points through the team’s first three games of a season.
Another key contributor to the offense is guard Malcolm Brogdon, who is averaging 13.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He is coming off his best game of the season on Friday, scoring 25 points and dishing out four assists in the win over Chicago. Brogdon has surpassed 20 points in two of the past three games. In 14 career games against the Knicks, he is averaging 15.6 points, 5.8 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game.
Why the Knicks can cover
Despite that, Boston isn’t a lock to cover the Celtics vs. Knicks spread. That’s because New York is led by point guard Jalen Brunson, who is off to a solid start to the year. He is averaging 18.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game, and has scored 20 or more points in four games. He is coming off a 23-point, seven-assist and six-rebound effort on Friday at Philadelphia. In eight career games against the Celtics, he is averaging 11.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Also powering the New York offense is guard R.J. Barrett, who narrowly missed a double-double on Friday night, scoring 22 points and grabbing nine rebounds against the 76ers. He has scored 20 or more points in four of eight games, including 22 twice, and is averaging 17.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He has been dominant against Boston. In nine career meetings against the Celtics, he is averaging 19.8 points and 6.1 rebounds.
How to make Celtics vs. Knicks picks
SportsLine’s model is leaning Over on the total. The model also says one side of the spread has all of the value. You can only get the model’s pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Knicks vs. Celtics? And which side of the spread has all of the value? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of spread you need to jump on, all from the model that has crushed its NBA picks, and find out.