The Boston Celtics, the defending champ, will meet the New York Knicks in a pleasantly surprising competitive playoff series. Matchup is starting right now! The Knicks, the surprise winners of the East’s third seed, are ready to take down the Green and White’s title defense. Our expert panel of basketball experts have made their predictions with the Celtics receiving an unprecedented majority to advance.
Tim MacMahon picks a long, hard-fought series with the Celtics in six. He points to the collective depth and experience of the Boston roster as key factors in their advantage over the Knicks. Kevin Pelton has a decidedly more sunnier outlook in Boston’s favor. He’s going with the Celtics in five to close it all out.
Other experts share similar sentiments. Notably, fellow ESPN scribe Ramona Shelburne predicted a six-game Celtics win, highlighting their superb playoff pedigree. Andre Snellings thinks this one will be a seven-game war. He picks the Celtics to win in seven games, indicating that he expects the Knicks to put up a strong fight against Boston.
Jorge Sedano goes with the crowd, calling a Boston 4-2 series win. Jerry Brembry comes at it from an unexpected angle, predicting a five-game finish in favor of the Celtics. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin envisions a nailbiter of a seven-game series. To him, as much as anything else, the possibility the Knicks can push the defending champion Heat to their limit.
Other analysts have chimed in. Only two writers—Jamal Collier and Chris Herring—picked the Celtics in six. Marc Spears and Jeremy Woo agree with this theory, predicting Boston wraps the series up in five games.
The final tally of expert predictions reveals a clear consensus: Boston 11, New York 0. One of those teams has received the kind of unanimous support usually reserved for defending champions—the Boston Celtics. Their stunning response during the summer and fall has made this support ironclad.
As the series draws nearer, fans all around the world are excited for what is sure to be an epic clash between these two historic franchises. The Knicks will hope to turn expectations on their head and show their resolve against one of the team’s best opponents on paper. At the same time, the Celtics look to bolster their championship pedigree with another deep playoff run.
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