Knicks Will Lay A Beatdown In Beantown

Knicks vs. Celtics, 8:00 ET

The NBA has been a strong season to this point. I'm not going to say I haven't had some hiccups and there haven't been losses, there have, but the good has certainly outweighed the bad. I haven't been giving as many picks as normal out on Twitter/X, but I'll get back to that as well. Personally, I've taken a different approach this season. I'm playing fewer games, and I'm not forcing picks every day. I feel like it has paid dividends in the win-loss column and for my pocketbook. Let's see if we can get a win in a rivalry game as the Knicks take on the Celtics.

The Knicks were able to escape Boston in the playoffs last year, but a lot of that has to do with Jayson Tatum rupturing his Achilles. That series still took six games for the Knicks to pull out the victory. Tatum's injury was in Game 4, so Boston was still able to beat them in Game 5, so it isn't unprecedented that they could beat a good Knicks team in Boston without their leader. This season, the Knicks entered as one of the favorites to win the wide-open Eastern Conference. With a 13-6 record, the team seems to be living up to expectations. After being run into the ground by their former head coach, it seems like the Knicks have a better rotation, and more players are getting rest than before. The team is still lead by Jalen Brunson. He is their offensive force, and regardless of if you like his game or not, he has been very reliable. Karl-Anthony Towns has been a great secondary option, and I think my favorite player for the team is Josh Hart. Hart is kind of a sparkplug for the team. He does a bit of everything and doesn't need to run isolation plays to score. 

Most people looked at the Celtics this season and said this would be a down year. After winning the NBA Championship, the team was expected to repeat and meet the Thunder in the Championship. It wasn't meant to be as I already mentioned the Tatum injury was too much. This offseason led to a lot of change for the team because they didn't want to have to pay luxury tax bills or anything. I'm not a billionaire, so I don't quite understand it, but I guess the luxury tax bill must be more than the income you make from winning a championship. In any case, the Celtics are not the fearsome team they were last season. They are missing Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday. Losing 60% of your starting lineup is brutal for any team, but this is a true backbreaker. That doesn't mean Boston is void of any talent. Jaylen Brown is a baler, and Payton Pritchard is one of the best reserve guards in the league. I'm not sure I want him starting, but the team still is successful no matter what role he is in. 

The Celtics are playing their third game in four nights. The good news for them is that this is not a back-to-back game, and they are at home. But they did have to travel in both of the back-to-back games. New York is coming off of two easy wins over good teams. They played the Bucks and won by nine, then they played the Raptors and demolished them. The Celtics have been battling in each game. This should be a rather tired team, but I do expect good effort. New York has been rough on the road with five of their six losses coming as a visiting team. However, I think this is a win for the Knicks. I'm going to take them on the moneyline at -122. 

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