New York Knicks at Boston Celtics
Friday, 2/3/12, 8:00 PM EST, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: New York -7
Current Betting Line: New York -6.5
Opening Total: 181.5
Current Total: 184
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
New York is set to play the middle game of a back-to-back-to-back situation Friday night inside the TD Garden, dropping a 105-102 decision to the Chicago Bulls as 3.5-point home underdogs last night. The Knicks have gone “over” the total in their last two contests after failing to do so in four games from Jan. 24-28. “For the most part, we played extremely hard,” commented Knicks star forward Carmelo Anthony. He has led to the team’s recent offensive outburst in coming back from injury to play in the last two games. New York is 4-7 ATS on the road this season and the “under” is 10-1 in those contests.
The Knicks came away with a 106-104 win over the Celtics in their first meeting this season, which actually fell on Christmas Day to open up the NBA’s 2011-12 campaign. New York has failed to cover the spread in the last three meetings, while dropping eight of the last nine meetings in straight-up fashion. New York needs to get some production from its bench to pull off the upset Friday night, getting just six points from reserves in last night’s loss to the Bulls. Power forward Amar’e Stoudemire had his best game of the season on Thursday, scoring 34 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Boston has won six of its last seven games that includes a 100-64 blowout victory over the Toronto Raptors as 9.5-point home favorites. The Celtics have played the last eight contests without starting point guard Rajon Rondo, who has been dealing with a right wrist injury. He is listed as questionable on the injury report, which could be a huge loss in this matchup due to scoring 31 points and dishing out 13 assists in the first meeting with the Celtics. Boston is 9-15 ATS in February the last two-plus seasons.
The Celtics are 11-6 versus Eastern Conference foes this season, including a 7-3 mark when playing inside tonight’s venue. Boston has been led by forward Paul Pierce on the offensive end without Rondo in the lineup, as the veteran had a game-high eight assists versus the Raptors. He missed the first three games of the season, including the season-opener with the Knicks.
Bettors will likely back the Knicks due to their 5-2 ATS mark as a road underdog of 5 to 10.5 points, while the Celtics are 2-5 ATS as a home favorite in the same point range.
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