New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics.
Stadium: Madison Square Garden, New York.
The Knicks take on the Boston Celtics in their first game of the season at Madison Square Garden. Bookmakers estimate the odds of both teams winning to be about even. This is hard to agree with. It looks like Boston have no chance at all. Let’s pick a few options to bet on at once.
New York have strengthened quite nicely
Last season, the Knicks made the playoffs for the first time in a thousand years. Tom Thibodeau proved to be a great coach by bringing the party back to Madison Square Garden. In the first round, however, New York could not offer decent resistance to Atlanta, losing to the Hawks in five games.
The legendary franchise, which has fallen under Thibodeau, wants to develop further. The front office has done a good job in the off-season and strengthened the roster. Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker are excellent reinforcements of the backline. That said, last season’s leaders have been retained, with Derrick Rose, Julius Randle, and RJ Barrett, and Nerlens Noel all in place. Let’s see what the team can achieve in the new championship.
Are Boston finished?
The resignation of Brad Stevens was unexpected. It seemed that the longtime Celtics coach was unstoppable and was about to achieve his ultimate goal of reaching the big finals. Stevens was promoted to general manager. Ime Udoka, formerly Gregg Popovich’s assistant in San Antonio and Steve Nash’s last season in Brooklyn, will now lead the team from the bench. Udoka will try out the head coaching role for the first time.
Boston’s roster hasn’t changed the magnitude. The Celtics gave up Kemba Walker but kept Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart. Josh Richardson, who moved to Boston from Philadelphia, Al Horford, who returned to the Celtics, and Dennis Schroeder, who didn’t make it with LeBron for the Lakers, will help them in the new season.
Expert Betting Tips
There is almost no doubt that the Knicks will win the upcoming matchup. So far, it’s hard to imagine what will happen to Boston under an inexperienced coach and with a revamped roster. In addition, Jaylen Brown will not participate in the match. The Celtics fell apart at the end of last season’s championship without Brown, so why should they take it out now? New York will start their second season under coach Thibodeau. The team is gaining stability and probably won’t mind starting with a home win.
The prediction is a win for New York.
Betting options:
- W1 for 1.80;
- Handicap 1 (-3.5) for 2.14;
- Individual Total 2 Under 108.5 for 1.87.