Posted at 12:45 PM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle -2½ -110 BET365 -2½ -110 Sportsinteraction -2½ -110 888Sport -2½ -118

New York -2½ over Boston

Best Odds: -110 

7:40 PM EST. The Knicks have been one of our favorite betting companions this season and we simply must take advantage of today's spread. You may have noticed that the Celtics, not the Knicks, were -2½-point favorites when the game was initially posted early at sportsbooks. It took less than an hour for that number to move down to a virtual pick-em, and now the same 2½ sits on the side of the away team. There's a good reason for that.

Firstly, the Celtics don't have anything "real" to play for. Boston has had the #1 seed locked up for weeks now. At first they admirably kept competing and in turn they were still winning games, but a switch seems to have flipped in their last contest Tuesday at Milwaukee. The Bucks needed to get right after losing 6 out of their last 7 games and the Celtics only aided their efforts. Celtics' coach Joe Mazzulla still played Jayson Tatum for 37 minutes, but he only ended up scoring 22 points on 9/19 from the field. Kristaps Porzingis sat, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White barely contributed, and the Celtics used bench players to consume 105 minutes, nearly half of their team's time on court. Predictably, Milwaukee ended up winning by margin, 104-91. Heading into tonight's affair, Boston posted Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and Xavier Tillman as questionable to play, leaving the door open for many key players to sit this one out.

The Knicks, on the other hand, found their mojo again. Winners of three out of their last four, New York should remain motivated since they could still fall in playoff seeding thanks to the ridiculously close Eastern Conference standings. More importantly, they're very healthy. And even better, OG Anunoby, the dynamic guard that they landed in a trade by sending RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto, had his coming out party against Chicago two nights ago. Recovering from an elbow injury is not easy, Anunoby found that out in mid-March when he tried to play through it, but the two-way stud now seems healthy and it showed in their most recent win. Anunoby was aggressive to the rim and even hit 4 out of 6 threes against a feisty Bulls' defense, accumulating 24 points in his most productive game since returning. Jalen Brunson also had a big game at Chicago, posting 45 points on 13-24 from the field, and New York's starting-five couldn't be stopped by a talented Bulls' defense. Their starters scored 118 of their 128 points.

Even if the Celtics cared about this game, the Knicks are no slouches. They're a top 5 rated team this season, with only other elites like Denver, OKC, and Minnesota earning better marks. And of course their opponent tonight has maintained the best rating and best record all season. But that's fake-news in this case. The Knicks are playing great basketball again, and their offense is humming, ranked 2nd overall in offensive efficiency over their last 7 games. The immediate, aggressive line movement supporting New York is telling a very clear story, and we'd be stupid to ignore it.

Farley

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