NBA Free Premium Play 04/20: Boston Celtics @ New York Knicks

Boston  at New York

NBA - 701 Boston Celtics @ 702 New York Knicks Projected Line: 186 points I believe this game will have an insanely slow pace dictated by the Knicks, as it has been happening throughout the whole season, but especially on their big run over the last month of the regular season. On the last two games played between these two teams, the pace factor was 87.5 and 84.4! It's easy to explain why the Knicks will want to play in such slow pace: they are #30 in the league in fast break points per game with 8.8 ppg, they don't commit turnovers (#1 with 12.0 TO/game) and they work well in finding the right spots for Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith to operate their ISO plays. The Knicks averaged 104 points scored on their last 18 games and considering their slow pace, they had to put some monstrous offensive ratings and they did exactly that by averaging a 119.5 offensive rating! The Knicks's offensive structure is based in three major areas: isolation plays, pick and roll ball handler plays and spot up shooting, where they were #5, #2 and #2 in efficiency during the regular season. But what about the Celtics's defense in these three areas? Well, they were #2, #1 and #2! A true elite defensive team in all these areas! If a team wants to stop the Knicks's offense, they need to stop their perimeter shooting and Boston has been a top defensive team on this area, as they ended the season by being #4 in the league on 3pts defense with 34.2% allowed. Sure that the Knicks crushed the Celtics on the last two games between these two teams, but note that Kevin Garnett didn't play in those games and he is the mastermind in the Celtics's defense. On the other side, the Knicks's defense will have Tyson Chandler and Kenyon Martin back, something huge for them, as they have been forced to play super small with no frontcourt player on the field while these two players were out with injuries. The Knicks's pick and roll ball handler defense hasn't been good all season long, but the Celtics don't really have a guard that can pound them on this particular area. On this half court scenario, Boston's lack of offensive rebounding is a problem for them and with them being just #22 in the league during the regular season on FT attempts per game, their long range shooting much be insanely good for them to have great offensive games, something that hasn't been usual for them lately. Therefore, I expect this game to be a low scoring contest and so, I'll be taking the Under in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 701/702 Under 190 @ -115 / 1.87 on Bovada