Don’t miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Knicks, which tips off Saturday at 7 p.m. ET with Celtics Pregame Live, and then Mike & Scal have the call of the game at 7:30 p.m. You can also stream the game through the MyTeams App.
The young NBA schedule gets going in earnest with teams taking the floor on the second night of back-to-back games Saturday, including the Boston Celtics, who visit the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York about 24 hours after tipping off their home opener against the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors.
On every Celtics game day throughout the 2019-20 season, we'll give you our betting picks for Boston's moneyline, point spread and point total, as well as two more "locks" on the NBA slate.
Here are our picks for Saturday. (All odds provided by WestGate Superbook.)
Boston Celtics at New York Knicks, 7 p.m. ET
Moneyline: It's also the second night of a back-to-back for the Knicks and they come into their home opener 0-2 after losses in San Antonio and Brooklyn. The Celtics (-250) seem to have found their mojo late in their 112-106 comeback win over the Raptors Friday. Expect it to continue against the annually rebuilding Knicks. With Kemba Walker finding his stroke to score 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and key buckets from Jaylen Brown (25 points) and 25 more from Jayson Tatum, the C's bring some momentum into MSG.
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Point Spread: The Celtics (-6) won three of four from New York last year and Knicks don't look to improve upon the NBA's worst home record from a season ago (9-32). The Celtics have had their shooting woes in their first two games but the Knicks allowed the Spurs to shoot better than 53 percent and the Nets hit at a 43-percent clip from deep on Friday.
Point Total: Look for the 215.5 total to be surpassed. The Knicks were the East's fourth-worst defensive team last season and scoring hasn't been an issue for them early this season after they had 111 and 109 points in the first two games. If the Celtics come anywhere near their 109 shots they had vs. the Raptors, expect the OVER to be hit.
NBA Locks of the Night
Toronto Raptors (-3) at Chicago Bulls: Toronto, also on the second night of a back to back after its loss in Boston, is 9-1-1 against the spread in their past 11 and the Bulls 0-4 ATS in their past four. Chicago is coming off a 110-102 win in Memphis, but allowed 126 points to Charlotte in its opener. Back the champs here.
Los Angeles Clippers at Phoenix Suns (OVER 229 total): The 2-0 Clips are coming off a 141-122 dismantling of the Golden State Warriors and the defensively challenged Suns should offer little resistance. Look for points to pile up and go with the over.
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