New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics Game 1 Prediction, NBA Playoff Odds
The Celtics made quick work of Orlando in the first round of the playoffs, dispatching the Magic in five games. New York traded blows with the Pistons, but ultimately prevailed in six games.
Boston opened Game 1 as sizeable 9.5.-point favourites to win on the NBA odds, with the total set at 212.5.
Knicks vs. Celtics NBA Betting Odds
Recent head-to-head action has been about as lopsided as you can imagine. The Celtics swept the four-game regular season series and have won nine of the last 10 overall. This is the first playoff matchup between the teams since the Knicks ousted Boston in a six-game first-round series in 2013.
It’s no surprise to see the Celtics open as heavy -800 favourites to win the series on the NBA futures board, with New York pegged as a +550 underdog. The favoured exact series result is a Boston win in five games at +200. If you want to put your faith in a miracle, a Knicks sweep is +6600.
New York’s Jalen Brunson and Boston’s Jayson Tatum are co-favourites to lead the series in scoring at +100 each. Brunson is second in playoff scoring right now with 31.5 points per game, closely trailed by Tatum at 31.3 ppg.
If you’re looking for a futures play, you can get the Celtics to repeat as NBA champions at +195, the second-shortest odds behind OKC at +135. The Knicks enter Round 2 with the longest championship odds at +6600.
New York Knicks
Brunson is the man to watch for New York. He ripped through Detroit in the first round with over 30 points in five of six games, including a monster 40-points and seven assists in the Game 6 clincher. Karl-Anthony Towns is another player to keep an eye on. The New York big man is averaging 19.7 points, 10 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.2 steals in the playoffs and he’s coming into the second round off back-to-back doubles.
There’s a real concern about the Knicks’ ability to defend against the 3. Boston went to town against New York in the regular season, with an average of 21 treys at a 43.5 per cent rate. This will also clearly be a massive step up in competition for the Knicks. Detroit struggled heavily from 3 in Round 1, something that just won’t happen with the Celtics. The playoffs are a different beast, so I give New York a chance to steal a game, but I would be shocked if Boston doesn’t win this series within five games.
Boston Celtics
Tatum will be circled on New York’s game card heading into this series. In the first round against Orlando, Tatum torched the Magic for 31.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He also made franchise history, scoring 35-plus points in Games 3, 4 and 5, joining Larry Bird as the second Celtics player to hit that point total in three straight playoff games. And that was against the second-best defence in the league, while the Knicks hold the 13th-ranked defence.
Three-point shooting was an issue for Boston in Round 1. Boston, which averaged an NBA-high 48.2 3-point attempts per game during the regular season, was held to under 38 attempts from beyond the arc in all five games against Orlando. For context, that only happened five times in the regular season (three of which were against Orlando). New York has to shut down the Celtics from deep to have a chance in this series.
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