The Boston Celtics host the New York Knicks on banner night to open the NBA season.
The pregame narrative: Boston was practically untouchable at TD Garden last year and should kick off its title defence with a win. Prop bets on Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges round out this +255 same-game parlay.
Check out my Knicks vs. Celtics SGP picks for the opening night of the NBA on Oct. 22.
Knicks vs. Celtics picks
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Parlay: Celtics moneyline + Brunson over 24.5 points + Bridges under 2.5 threes (+255)
Celtics moneyline (-195): All you have to do to get behind this bet is look at the number 45 — that’s how many wins Boston had at home last year.
The Celtics went 37-5 during the regular season and 8-2 in the playoffs on their famed parquet flooring, boasting the best regular-season home net rating (+15.5) since the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are elite and Derrick White and Jrue Holiday make up an all-Olympic backcourt. Boston’s depth is second to none and should play an important role, too.
New York projects to be Boston’s top challenger out of the East this year, holding the second-shortest odds to win the conference, but there are levels to this.
The Celtics went 4-1 against the Knicks during the 2023-24 regular season, outscoring them by an average of 7.0 points.
Boston’s dominance at TD Garden led it to a championship and Joe Mazzula’s squad should set the tone with the banner going up on Wednesday.
SGP legs
Brunson over 24.5 points (-200): Brunson routinely topped this line last season, averaging a career-best 28.7 points per game while earning down-ballot MVP votes.
The superstar PG cleared this line in 50 of 77 regular season games (64.9%) and came within a basket another nine times.
Brunson erupted for 39 and 34 points in his last two meetings with the Celtics, while shooting a combined 27-of-48 (56.3%) from the field.
I’m not quite sold on New York’s secondary scoring — more on that in a moment — and believe Brunson will have to lead the charge.
Bridges under 2.5 threes (-200): Knicks fans have to be a little worried about Bridges.
The former Brooklyn Net was seemingly the last stone in the Villanova Knicks’ infinity gauntlet before Donte DiVincenzo was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a package deal for Karl-Anthony Towns.
New York gave up a boatload of picks for Bridges in the hopes that he could provide secondary scoring but the small forward has seemingly re-worked his jump shot and the early results are awful.
Bridges averaged 10.7 points across five preseason games while shooting a combined 2-of-19 (10.5%) from deep.
He might break out of this funk or he might not but Boston isn’t the team to do it against.
Picks made at 12:41 p.m. on 10/21/24.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.