Boston at New York

Boston meekly was eliminated from the playoffs in five games by Brooklyn and now embark on a new venture with a new coach. Ime Udoka replaces the always overrated Brad Stevens, who replaced Danny Ainge as president of basketball operations. The Celtics depended too much on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and their scoring outputs were not enough to overcome an otherwise average roster. The Celtics consider this a transition year and will focus on free agency next offseason. New York had its best season in years under its new coach Tom Thibodeau with 41 victories and made the playoffs for the first time in eight years. The Knicks picked up Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier and drafted Quentin Grimes from the University of Houston. New York won two of three meetings in 2020-21 and finished 14-5 ATS as a home favorite. Play the Knicks.