Knicks vs Celtics Prediction, Odds, Key Players to Watch for NBA Opening Night ( Trus

The NBA IS BACK!

Tuesday features a pair of opening night matchups, starting with the Boston Celtics raising their 2024 NBA Finals banner against the New York Knicks at TD Garden.

Boston kept last season’s title core (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis) intact this offseason, but KP will miss the start of the regular season after surgery off season

So Boston will have more Xavier Tillman Sr. and Luke Kornet in the frontcourt early in the season.

As for the Knicks, the second seed in the East last season, things look very different.

Donte DiVincenzo, Bojan Bogdanovice, Julius Randle and Isaiah Hartenstein are all out. Mikal Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns and Cam Payne are there. But will it work?

The Knicks are still trying to fit in, so much so that Josh Hart admitted he’s “lost” in the team’s starting lineup right now.

Not what you want to hear on opening night.

Oddsmakers have favored the defending champs at home in this one, going 4-1 against the Knicks in the regular season in the 2023-24 campaign.

Here’s a breakdown of the odds, key players to watch, injuries and my prediction for the first NBA game of the 2024-25 season.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Propagation

Moneyline

total

Knicks injury report

Celtics injury report

New York Knicks

Cities of Karl-Anthony: New York made a massive move right before the start of training camp, trading Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle to Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns. One of the best shooting players in the game, New York will rely heavily on Towns’ offense this season.

Boston Celtics

Jayson Tatum: After a frustrating Olympic stint where he didn’t play much, Tatum is looking for revenge to open the 2024-25 season. He helped Boston win a title last season and tweaked his jumper a bit in the offseason. Will he reward himself with a big scoring night on Tuesday?

There is a clear difference between these teams entering Tuesday night’s game.

The continuity

Boston, even without Porzingis, returns every rotation player from last season’s team, and looked like a well-oiled machine during the preseason.

Meanwhile, the Knicks rotation is almost completely different outside of Hart, Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride and OG Anunoby. With New York waiving injured wing Landry Shamet on Saturday, there are serious concerns for the Knicks going forward.

There’s always the concern of a championship hangover with teams, but Joe Mazzulla’s Celtics may be immune to that given the concentration they’ve seen in the preseason. Tatum (lack of playing time in the Olympics) and Brown (team USA wanted) have reasons to prove people wrong this season.

I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Boston win this game against the new-look Knicks.

Cities may end up being a problem for the C’s defensively, but ultimately I think the start of the season will be a feel-good period for the Knicks.

Trust that Boston’s continuity will be the difference on Tuesday.

Selection: Celtics -5.5 (-105)

Odds are updated periodically and are subject to change.

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Find Peter Dewey’s NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily works BetStamp here.