New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics Prediction, Preview and Odds - 12/18/2021

Game Time: 7:00 pm ET, Saturday, December 18, 2021

Venue:  TD Garden, Boston, MA 

Where to Watch:  NBA TV

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Knicks +4.5, Celtics -4.5; Over/Under:  210 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Knicks +4.5, Celtics -4.5; Over/Under:  210.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Knicks +4.5, Celtics -4.5; Over/Under:  210.5 points

 

New York Knicks:  13-16 (5th place, Atlantic Division)

Boston Celtics:  14-14 (3rd place, Atlantic Division)

 

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New York Knicks:  3-7 last 10

Boston Celtics:  4-6 last 10

 

 

 

The Knicks are coming into this game with a 13-16 record overall and they are 8-6 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They have lost 4 of their last 5 games but they are coming into this one off of a win in their last game which snapped a 4 game losing streak that they were on. Their 4 losses in that span were against the Indiana Pacers, the Toronto raptors, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Golden State Warriors while their win came against the Houston Rockets in their last game. Immanuel Quickley led the team in points in that game with 24 off the bench while Evan Fournier was next on the team with 23 points. Julius Randle also scored 21 points in that one as well. Miles McBride led the team in assists in that game with 9 while Alec Burks and Mitchell Robinson both led the team in rebounds with 9 each. They were 47% from the field, 47.2% from 3-point range, and 84% from the free throw line with their shooting in that game. Their offense is averaging 105.8 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 107.2 PPG against them. The Knicks have an ATS record of 12-17 this season and their O/U record is 13-16.

 

 

The Celtics are coming into this game with a 14-14 record overall and they are 7-4 in their home game this season where they will be in this game. They have lost 3 of their last 4 games but are coming into this one off of a win in their last game which snapped a 3 game losing streak that they were on. Their 3 losses in that span were against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Phoenix Suns while their win came against the Milwaukee Bucks in their last game. They still have a game on Friday night against the Golden State Warriors that needs to be played first with that result pending so this will be the 2nd leg of a back-to-back on Saturday night. In their game against the Bucks, Jayson Tatum went off in that game as he led the team in points with 42 while Jaylen Brown was next on the team with 19 points. Marcus Smart led the team in assists in that game with 11 while Robert Williams and Grant Williams both led the team in rebounds with 7 each. They were 50% from the field, 42.6% from 3-point range, and 84.6% from the free throw line with their shots in that game. Their offense is averaging 108.3 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 107.2 PPG against them. The Celtics have an ATS record of 14-13-1 this season and their O/U record is 11-16-1.

 

 

The Celtics are coming into this game as a 4.5 point favorite with the current betting odds according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Celtics have been playing very well in their recent games and the Knicks have not been playing well recently. The Knicks started their season off great but they have fallen off since then and now have a record below .500. The Celtics are healthy for this game and Tatum has been on fire recently. He should be able to carry the Celtics to another big win here. The best bet to place in this game is on the Celtics to cover the spread here.

 

Knicks Celtics Prediction:  Our NBA Pick for Saturday, December 18, 2021 (7:00 pm ET start time) is Celtics 114 Knicks 104.

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New York Knicks: 8-13 O/U when the total is 210 to 219.5. 2-5 O/U as a road underdog. 12-19 O/U vs. division opponents. 21-49 O/U after having lost 2 of their last 3 games. 

Boston Celtics: 2-6 O/U as a favorite of 3.5 to 9.5 points. 4-11 O/U as a favorite. 16-9 ATS in December games. 10-5 ATS when playing 3 or less games in 10 days. 

 

 

New York Knicks:  K. Knox II (SF) Out indefinitely - Illness. Q. Grimes (SG) Out indefinitely - Illness. R. Barrett (SF) Out indefinitely - Illness. O. Toppin (PF) Out indefinitely - Illness.

Boston Celtics:  J. Parker (PF) Out indefinitely - Illness. B. Fernando (PF) Ques Fri - Back injury.

 

 

 

"(Quickley) hit big shots. We had a lot of guys step up. We've got to continue to work, defensively." - Tom Thibodeaux on his team’s win against the Rockets on Thursday night.

 

 

 

"I had an animated film session of that trip. We didn't like that feeling and got back to who we are."  - Ime Udoka on his team’s win against the Bucks on Monday night.

 

 

PG     Alec Burks

SG     Evan Fournier

SF     Immanuel Quickley

PF     Julius Randle

C     Nerlens Noel

 

PG    Marcus Smart 

SG    Jaylen Brown

SF    Jayson Tatum

PF    Al Horford

C    Robert Williams III

 

 

PPG: J. Randle (19.6)

APG: J. Randle (5.2)

Reb/G: J. Randle (9.8)

 

PPG: J. Tatum (26.2)

APG: M. Smart (5.6)

Reb/G: J. Tatum (8.6)

 

Coaches:

New York Knicks: Tom Thibodeau (2nd season)

Boston Celtics: Ime Udoka (1st season)