NBA fans across the World will be treated to a huge game in the early tip-off as the Knicks and Celtics battle on ABC, starting at 1 pm ET. I’ve prepared a Same Game Parlay bet to spice things up, head over to our NBA Picks page for predictions on the side and total for Sunday’s slate. Now let’s get into my Knicks vs Celtics SGP bet!
High scoring has marked the first two meetings this season between the Celtics and Knicks. We all still remember that historic opening night performance by the Cs where they equaled the NBA’s all-time record for threes made in a game with 29. Both meetings have seen over 231.5 points this season, with the way the Knicks have played in these first two months of 2025 I think it’s safe to assume we won’t see that much defense in Sunday’s game, at least on their side. Over their past 15 games the Knicks rank just 23rd in defensive efficiency, allowing 118 points per 100 possessions.
That’s bad news going into a game against the NBA’s 4th most prolific offense – the Celtics average 119 points per 100 possessions. New York really struggles defending the perimeter, opponents are making 38.1% of their attempts from downtown against them, that number jumps up to 39.1% in road games. The over has cashed in 7 of 8 Knicks games overall and in 5 of 6 meetings between these two teams at TD Garden. I expect both teams to be on top of their games offensively here, so let’s back the over to tip things off with our Same Game Parlay.
The price on this bet is what immediately stood out for me when I was doing the analysis for this game. Towns has been putting up some stellar numbers offensively lately, I think it would be foolish not to back him to score 25 points against the Celtics here at +114 odds. He’s averaging 24.6 points a night in his last 10 outings, while shooting almost 51% from the field and over 41% from downtown. He had only 23 in the loss to Cleveland in his last game, but that’s mainly because the game was pretty much over mid-way and he logged just 29 minutes total. He shot 10-for-15 from the field in that game against one of the elite defenses in the NBA, that tells me he will be ready for the Celtics on Sunday. Prior to that Towns has put up 32 on the Bulls, 44 on the Hawks and 40 on the Pacers. His points per game average has gone up for the 3rd month in a row, I think it’s time he finally has a big game against the Celtics.
Getting timely stops is what could determine Sunday’s game between the Knicks and Celtics. Kristaps Porzingis always seems to do well against his former team the Knicks, in the last 10 meetings he’s putting up really solid numbers offensively, while on defense he’s also logging 1.5 blocks per game during that stretch. He had exactly 2 blocks the last time he faced them, which gives me optimism he can reach that number on Sunday as well. New York is one of the more aggressive teams in the NBA as far as attacking the paint goes – they average the 3rd highest number of points per game in that area this season. If the three-ball isn’t falling early I expect the likes of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby to attack the basket, this is where Porzingis has a chance to shine. He’s cleared this line in 5 of his last 7 games, the Knicks get blocked an average of 5 times per game this season which ranks them 16th in the NBA. Let’s hope KP can use his length in Sunday’s game.
