It's a do-or-die Game 5 in the NBA playoffs for the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, down 3-1 and hosting the division-rival New York Knicks without the services of injured superstar Jayson Tatum. The chips are stacked against the reigning champions, but the 2025 NBA Playoffs have taught us to expect the unexpected.
Here, The Sporting News' US Sports experts analyse the latest NBA odds for this elimination game, and also hand-select the best bets for the night.
We'll offer up our final score prediction, and highlight the optimal over/under bets.
Let's get right to our betting preview for Game 5 of the Celtics vs. Knicks series.
Celtics vs. Knicks NBA Playoffs Game 5: Betting predictions, tips and latest odds
- Win market: Celtics 5/8 | Knicks 13/8
- Over/under: O 207.5 (17/20) | U 207.5 (20/21)
The Celtics enter Wednesday as a home favourite despite trailing 3-1 in the series. Boston's 5/8 odds translates to a roughly 61-percent implied win probability.
The 207.5 points seems like a low over/under, until you realise that Games 2 and 3 totaled 181 and 208 points, respectively, and Boston's top scorer (Tatum) is sidelined.
The Celtics have now gone 31-15 at TD Garden since the start of the 2024/25 season. They went 8-2 in games without Tatum, although half those 10 opponents finished the season with records below .500.
Celtics vs. Knicks NBA Playoffs Game 5 best bets and final score prediction
When Jayson Tatum went down late in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden, Celtics fans felt a collective gut punch. After already blowing the third big second-half lead in four games, it felt like the basketball gods were adding injury to insult. However, the show must go on, and the Celtics must channel their inner Bill Belichick with a "Next man up" mentality.
Sportsbooks aren't taking the bait on the injury — they still have Boston as the favourite this evening, knowing full well that Joe Mazzulla's squad has plenty of dog left in it.
The Celtics went 8-2 without JT this season, and Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard have all flashed moments of brilliance throughout this series.
As for bettors, the collective feeling is that this series is done and the Celts are kaput. A whopping 80 percent of US spread bettors have put their money on the Knicks to seal the deal in front of the New England crowd. Can you blame them? Jalen Brunson has proved himself entirely worthy of his Clutch Player of the Year honours, and Mikal Bridges' late-game defense has certainly validated the bevy of picks New York used to acquire him.
However, this postseason has taught us to zig when the public zags. And the Celtics crowd should rally like never before to help propel its squad to victory. It's time for Brown to show why he landed a $300 million contract two years ago. Time for Pritchard to flex his Sixth Man of the Year muscles and go off. Time for Boston to attack the lane, maintain pressure, get big stops and collect rebounds. This rollercoaster series isn't done yet, folks — New York will have to finish the job at home if it wants to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Celtics 106, Knicks 100 — Boston wins and covers a -4.5 points handicap (87/100) and the score finishes just UNDER the projected total of 207.5.
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