Don’t miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Knicks, which tips off Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET with Celtics Pregame Live, and then Mike & Tommy have the call of the game at 7:30 p.m. You can also stream the game through the MyTeams App.
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The Boston Celtics surprised a lot of people Wednesday night -- including yours truly.
The Celtics overcame Jaylen Brown's absence to beat the Milwaukee Bucks as home underdogs at TD Garden, spoiling our undefeated record picking Celtics games this season.
But now is no time to sulk. Boston is back in action Friday night at home against R.J. Barrett and the New York Knicks, which means it's time to roll up our sleeves and give our best bets for the Celtics' moneyline, point spread and point total.
Oh, and we'll also have two "locks" against the spread from the other NBA games after going 2-0 on that front last week.
Here are our picks for Friday. (All odds provided by WestGate Superbook.)
New York Knicks at Boston Celtics, 7:30 p.m. ET
Boston Celtics
Moneyline: If you're thinking about taking the underdog Knicks at +450 ... don't. New York hasn't won a road game this season and will be without Dennis Smith Jr. against a Celtics team on a three-game winning streak. It's not a matter of if the Celtics (-650) will win. It's by how much.
Point Spread: Might as well address that question here. The Celtics played an ugly first half in New York last Saturday and still covered easily, and the Knicks are particularly bad on Friday nights for some reason (1-8 against the spread in their last nine Friday games). Even if Marcus Morris goes off in his return to Boston, the Celtics (-10.5) should run away with this one.
Point Total: Fool me once... The under is 4-1 in the Celtics' last five games, and yet I still took the over in C's-Bucks. I'm not making the same mistake twice. Boston should reach triple digits, but New York's offense doesn't have enough juice to push the 214 point total. I'm taking the UNDER.
Darren's record picking the Celtics' moneyline, point spread and point total: 6-3
NBA Locks of the Night
Houston Rockets (-3.5) at Brooklyn Nets: This game should be an absolute shootout between two teams with top-three offenses and bottom-four defenses. But Kyrie Irving has been a one-man band in Brooklyn, while James Harden, Russell Westbrook and the Rockets have more firepower. I'm taking Houston.
Milwaukee Bucks (-4.5) at Orlando Magic: Another road favorite? You bet. The Magic's two wins this season are against the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks. They're in for a rude awakening against the Bucks, who despite Wednesday's loss are still a strong road team (29-19-2 against the spread since the beginning of last sesaon). Milwaukee should take care of business.
Darren's record picking NBA locks against the spread: 4-2
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