Champions open the new season!
For the fans of the NBA, the time of suffering is over! The new season in the National Basketball Association begins and it comes to the opener between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks.
The hosts will rely on their home strength in the encounter. Last season, they lost only four of 41 home games in the regular season, the best record in the NBA by far.
For the match between the Celtics and Knicks, the betting tip also aims for another home win with at least a six-point difference.
Boston Celtics – Statistics & current form
The champions are also the top favorites for the title in the new season. The squad of the champions from Massachusetts has been kept together as far as possible and this applies in particular to the key players. One example is forward Jayson Tatum.
The 26-year-old is in his prime and is one of the best players in the NBA at this position. Last summer, Tatum was also part of the US national team that defended its title at the Olympic Games in Paris. In the first game of the season, he will undoubtedly want to lead the way for the 23-time Eastern Conference winners and take on a lot of responsibility.
Tatum with 25 or more points for Boston?
With this in mind, the prediction of at least 25 points from him in the game between the Celtics and Knicks also makes sense. A look at his performance against the New York Islanders last season also speaks in favor of this. Tatum averaged 26.2 points in the five match-ups, which was above his seasonal scoring average.
If you want to join the additional prediction, you can find it by searching for quotes at Bet365.
New York Knicks – Statistics & current form
The face of the New York Knicks has changed significantly compared to the upcoming opponent. At the center position, German Isaiah Hartenstein left the franchise from the East Coast for Oklahoma, where the “Big Man” will earn almost 90 million US dollars over the next three years.
This was a huge loss for the New Yorkers, especially as Mitchell Robinson, another strong defensive player in the squad, will have to miss out due to an ankle injury. The front office therefore had to act and engineered a trade that has now brought Karl-Anthony Towns to Madison Square Garden.
The first pick from 2015 is of course a great replacement, as KAT is a convincing center on both sides of the court. Just how strong he is can also be seen from the fact that Towns has already been nominated as an All-Star four times in his career and also won this award last season.
At least 115 points against the Knicks?
However, the defence of coach Tom Thibodeau’s team has been weakened by the departure of Hartenstein and the injury to Robinson and certainly still needs to find its form. In view of this, betting on the home side to score more than 114.5 points in the clash between Boston and New York is also worth considering.
Boston Celtics – New York Knicks head-to-head / H2H record
The last head-to-head clash took place at Boston’s TD Garden in April this year and ended in defeat for the hosts. Thanks to the success, the basketball players from the “Big Apple” were able to put an end to a previous streak of five defeats against the Celtics.
However, the triumph was also due to the timing of the game. Coach Joe Mazzulla’s team were already top of the Eastern Conference table and were therefore less motivated than usual.
Boston Celtics – New York Knicks betting tip
For the opener of the new season in the NBA between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, the prediction is for the hosts to win by at least six points. The hosts are the reigning champions and can still call on the key players from last season’s successful campaign.
This means they once again have enormous quality that their opponents cannot match. In addition, the champions will be highly committed in their first game of the new season and will want to send out a strong signal to the competition.
Last but not least, the Celtics were extremely strong at home last season. This also supports the Boston vs New York betting tip from this perspective
