In the second round of the 2024-25 NBA Playoffs, the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks will battle for a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals. Keep reading for a preview and prediction for this series. And make sure you check out our NBA Playoffs Betting Guide, which will serve as the hub for all of our postseason betting content!
Celtics vs. Knicks Series Preview
The Knicks were able to hang on for dear life in an opening-round series against the Detroit Pistons, but New York didn’t look very good over those six games. New York had an offensive rating of 109.8 in the series. That number was way down from the team’s regular-season offensive rating of 117.3. All throughout the series, the Knicks leaned more into Jalen Brunson hero-ball than ever, despite the fact that they went out and got Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges in the offseason. New York just didn’t run enough Brunson-Towns pick-and-roll actions, and they didn’t do enough matchup hunting with Towns. The Knicks also didn’t prioritize ball movement all that much.
As we turn the page to this series, New York isn’t going to be able to get away with any of that against Boston. While the Pistons are a good defensive team, the Celtics are a great one. Boston had an adjusted defensive rating of 110.7 during the regular season, according to Dunks & Threes. And the Celtics have good defensive options for all of the Knicks. Brunson will surely have his moments in this series, but Derrick White and Jrue Holiday will take turns hounding him. And Boston has great defenders on the wings for New York’s duo of Bridges and OG Anunoby. The Celtics also have good size and length for Towns, as Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford will both be comfortable handling that assignment. Also, if Deuce McBride doesn’t find his 3-point stroke, the Celtics might be able to play off him when he’s in. That’ll make things even more difficult on Tom Thibodeau, as he’s already very thin on depth. And Boston will be giving Josh Hart similar treatment with the starting group.
It’s also just hard to imagine this New York team showing up and doing a good job of defending Boston. The Knicks were 15th in the NBA in adjusted defensive rating (113.7) this season, according to Dunks & Threes. That’s decent, not great. And this Celtics team was second in the league in adjusted offensive rating (119.4). Boston just has so many players that can give this New York team nightmares, with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown being the main ones.
Tatum absolutely loves this matchup. In four games against the Knicks during the regular season, he averaged 33.5 points per game on 53.5% shooting from the floor and 47.8% shooting from 3. While New York has some wings that are known for being excellent defensively, it didn’t matter when those guys were matched up with the All-NBA performer.
In four games against the Knicks in the regular season, the Celtics had an offensive rating of 130.2. The Cavaliers had the best offensive rating in the NBA this season, and that number was down at 121.0. That should tell you how easy it was for Boston to score on this New York defense.
This is just a series in which Boston has more talent, more depth and a better style of play on both ends of the floor. The Celtics also have a huge coaching mismatch with Joe Mazzulla going up against Thibodeau, who looked lost as the Knicks struggled with the Pistons in the opening round.
Maybe this will be a series in which New York has some success covering some larger numbers. After all, Boston wasn’t very reliable when it came to covering big spreads during the regular season, and New York is a prideful team that will fight every minutes. But it’s a little hard to imagine the Knicks winning two games in this series. Unless Thibodeau was holding some things back during the regular season — and in the series against the Pistons — this was a team that was overmatched against the Celtics during the year. I don’t see any of that changing in this series. Boston is the league’s defending champion and raises its game during the postseason.
Series Best Bet: Celtics -2.5 Games (-122)
