It will be a battle of division foes when the New York Knicks (22-25) welcome the Boston Celtics (25-21) to Madison Square Garden. The game starts at 7:30 pm ET on Tuesday, Feb. 2 and will air on CNE and MSG.
The Knicks were beaten by the Thunder 128-122 in their last game. Langston Galloway was the team’s high scorer, contributing 21 points. The Celtics, meanwhile, are coming off a 116-91 win over the Wizards in their last outing. Isaiah Thomas shot 8-for-14 and led in scoring with 23 points.
The two teams have split their matchups this season. The Knicks had the upper hand in the most recent game, a 120-114 win. Thomas scored a game-high 34 points.
The Knicks are a three-point underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 206 points. The Knicks enter the game with records of 23-27 Straight Up (SU) and 29-21 Against The Spread (ATS). They have a record of 6-3 both SU and ATS against their division at home. The Knicks are a dangerously accurate shooting team from the line with an NBA-best .813 free throw percentage. As for the New York defense, teams really have to fight for open three-pointers against the Knicks, who have one of the best opponent three-point field goal percentages in the league at .333. Expect New York to have lots of opportunities at the line against the Celtics, who lead the league with an average of 23.0 fouls per game.
Across the court, the Celtics head into the game with records of 25-22-2 ATS and 27-22 SU. In divisional games, Boston has gone 6-5 SU and 5-6 ATS. The Celtics rank fourth in the league in road scoring, averaging 105.5 points per game. Boston’s defense is one of the top in the league, with opponents shooting only .431 from the field. A large part of Boston’s game is creating turnovers and turning them into points. They are scoring 19.2 points per game off turnovers, which ranks third in the league.
The Knicks’ win over Boston in their last game couldn’t give them the edge in the head-to-head record over the past 10 meetings, where the Celtics still lead 6-4 SU. The teams have an even record ATS, 5-5.
Predictions: SU Winner – Bos, ATS Winner – Bos, O/U – Over
Notes
New York is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of New York’s last 6 games.
The total has gone OVER in 11 of New York’s last 15 games at home.
New York is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games at home.
New York is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Boston.
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of New York’s last 19 games when playing Boston.
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of New York’s last 9 games when playing at home against Boston.
New York is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Boston.
New York is 6-2 SU against its divisional rivals, while Boston is 6-5 SU.
New York has allowed an average of 101.2 points per game this season. Boston averages 104.8 points per game, ranking the team fifth in scoring.
New York ranks 18th in points allowed per home game (101.2 PPG), while Boston ranks fourth in points per away game with 105.5.
When giving up fewer than 100 points, the New York Knicks have a 13-10 record. When they don’t reach the century mark, the Boston Celtics have a losing record of 4-10.
The New York Knicks have a subpar 9-15 record in games where they have allowed at least 100 points. The Boston Celtics are 21-11 when they hit triple digits.
The Celtics have a defensive rating of 99.3, second-best in the NBA. The Knicks also rank in the top half of the league for their offensive rating of 103.2 (ranked 15th).
New York averages fewer possessions per game than Boston, with 96.5 compared to 101.6. However, the Knicks score an average of 1.032 points per possession, more than the 1.027 that the Celtics score.
The New York Knicks average an effective field goal percentage of 48.3% this season. The Boston Celtics have an underachieving record of 3-15 when opponents have an EFF% of 48.3% or greater.
On average, the Boston Celtics make 24.3 assists per game and the New York Knicks make 20.6. Boston is ranked fifth, while New York is ranked 23rd.
New York makes an average of 5.7 blocks per game (ranked seventh), while Boston makes 4.3 blocks per game (ranked 23rd).
The Knicks and the Celtics are well matched when it comes to rebounding. New York is ranked 16th in offensive rebounding, and Boston is also ranked 16th in defensive rebounding.
The Boston Celtics earn an average of 9.6 steals per game and are ranked second. The New York Knicks have a 6-5 record when they allow at least 9 steals.
