New York Knicks (19-36 SU 24-31 ATS) vs. Boston Celtics (35-19 SU 21-32-1 ATS) TD Garden, Boston, MA 7:30 PM EST Tuesday February 23, 2010 on CSNN
by Jason Green at Predictem.com
Point Spread: Knicks +10/Celtics -10
Over/Under: 196.5
Tonight in an Eastern Conference match up the Boston Celtics host the New York Knicks. This will be the first game for Boston that newly acquired Nate Robinson (13.2 ppg) will play after sitting out the last 2 with an illness. The Celtics will need Robinson’s offense tonight, as they will likely be without Paul Pierce (17.9 ppg), who is injured.
The Knicks may also be without a legit scorer, as newly acquired Tracy McGrady will also likely not play due to an injury. He has averaged 20.5 ppg in 2 games since coming to New York, but the Knicks have lost both games. Eddie House is the big name that came to New York in the Robinson trade and he did have 24 points in the first game for the Knicks, but only had 10 on 4/16 shooting in his last game.
This season the Celtics are 15-9 at home and the Knicks are 7-17 on the road.
The Celtics are coming off a loss and are 6-4 in their last 10 games. The Knicks are currently on their longest losing streak of the season, as they have dropped 7 in a row and they are only 1-9 in their last 10 games.
Boston is in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference, but only lead 4th place Atlanta by game. The Knicks are not out of the playoffs yet, but they have to start winning, as they are in the 13th position 8 games out of the 8th and last playoff spot.
Boston is, in terms of points allowed, the best defensive unit in the league while the Knicks are weak on D and have to score a lot to win. They only scored 67 points in their last game and they obviously need to improve on that tonight or they will be toast.
The Knicks are 10 games below .500 on the road this season and on top of that they are 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 games in Boston.
In their last game the Knicks lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 83-67 last night. The high scorer for New York in the game was Tracy McGrady going for 15 points on only 5/14 shooting. For the game the Knicks were ice cold only going 26/77 for a FG% of 33.8%. On D the Knicks allowed the Bucks to shoot 37/86 from the floor for a FG% of 43%.
The Celtics lost their last game falling to the Denver Nuggets 114-105
on Sunday afternoon. The high scorer for Boston in the game was Ray
Allen going for 25 points on 9/14 shooting. For the game the Celtics
shot well going 45/85 for a legit FG% of 52.9%. The Celtics did not play
a good game on D allowing the Nuggets to shoot 40/78 for a FG% of 51.3%.
This season the Knicks rank 13th in scoring (100.9 ppg) and the Celtics rank 19th (98.5 ppg). On defense the Celtics rank 1st in points allowed (93.6 ppg) while the Knicks only rank 25th (104.4 ppg). Neither team has been good on the boards this season, but the Knicks have been terrible, as they have a rebounding differential of -4.4 rpg and the Celtics are at -0.9 rpg.
According to the Sagarin NBA ratings the Celtics rank 5th (94.47) and the Knicks rank 27th (85.59).
New York is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games, and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games against teams with a winning record.
New York has an Under record of 6-2 in their last 8 road games and has an Over record of 4-1 in their last 5 games against teams with a winning record.
Boston is 7-18-1 ATS in their last 26 home games, 4-12-1 ATS in their last 17 games, and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games against teams with a losing record.
Boston has an Under record of 6-1 in their last 7 games, and Under record of 4-1 in their last 5 home games, and has an Under record of 4-0 in their last 4 games against teams with a winning percentage below 40%.
In 4 of the last 5 games between these 2 teams in Boston the total has gone Over.
On the injury front SG Tracy McGrady and J.R. Giddens are day-to-day for New York and SG Tony Allen and SF Paul Pierce are day-to-day for Boston.
Jason’s Pick: Pierce is likely out tonight but don’t let that scare you off. The Celtics are loaded. The power ratings say Boston is 14 points better and the spread is 10 so there’s some good value here. In my estimation, the loss of Pierce isn’t worth 4 points in this matchup not to mention the addition of Tracy McGrady has completely screwed up the already screwed Knicks team chemistry. Then factor in that NY only scored 67 in their last game which is a huge red flag. Big problems in NY. Boston will win this game sending the Knicks to their 8th straight loss.
