Boston @ New York picks

The New York Knicks are riding a three-game home winning streak yet are short home underdogs when they host the Boston Celtics. Boston seeks a season series sweep, but Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis missed Sunday's tilt, and both Celtics are questionable for Tuesday. After a month's absence, Jalen Brunson finally returned to the Knicks lineup, scoring 15 points and six assists against Phoenix. NY is 27-12 straight up and hot at MSG. I'll take a chance on NY avoiding the season broom. 

Turning the tables on Boston will require a monster defensive effort, and I’m targeting OG Anunoby as an X-factor for the Knicks here. Anunoby’s No. 1 job will be to slow down the Celtics’ wings, but I see him making his presence felt on the glass too – and a line of 4.5 rebounds seems low. Anunoby grabbed six rebounds against the Suns on Sunday, and he’s finished with 5+ boards in six of his past eight games. With the Celtics sure to drag Karl-Anthony Towns into the pick and roll time and time again, it’ll be up to Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart to clean up the back-end of the defensive possessions. Minutes aren’t likely to be an issue, with Thibs set to give his starters a heavy workload. Anunoby averaged 38.1 MPG in March, and that kind of court time will always keep this Over in play.

With the Celtics roster potentially depleted, Derrick White could be in line for big minutes and big usage. A normal day at the office would be enough for him to cash the Over here, as he’s averaging 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists, good for 25.6 PRA. Fortunately for bettors, White has been even better than that since the All-Star break. He averaged 24.6 PRA pre-break and 27.6 post-break. That includes a 26.8 PRA average across his last 10 road games, in which he hit the Over nine times. White has hit the Over on this line in 51 of 74 games this season, so I’d expect the odds to be much shorter. We’re getting this prop at a steep discount.