The Celtics rallied at home in Game 5 on Wednesday night, defeating the Knicks by 25 points without Jayson Tatum. Now the Knicks, who are priced as favorites in a game for the first time in the series, have another closeout opportunity at home in Game 6. Let’s breakdown a few bets for the game.
Payton Pritchard OVER 14.5 Points (-125) – 1-unit
Going right back to Pritchard here after he cashed the over for us in Game 5 with 17 points. Here’s what I wrote about Pritchard prior to Game 5 in my article:
“While Pritchard had a tremendous breakout season, earning Sixth Man of the Year in the process, he’s been less shy when Tatum is off the floor. In 70 games with JT this season, Pritchard was awesome, averaging 13.6 points per game on 10.2 field goal attempts (7.5 of which were from downtown). However, Pritchard’s light gets even more green without Tatum. Although his playing time goes up only about four minutes per game, Pritchard jumps to 18.5 points in 11 games without Tatum, taking nearly 15 shots per game, with 9.8 per game coming from beyond the arc. Pritchard was very successful in Boston’s Game 3 win, dropping 23 points in 35 minutes off the bench.”
While Pritchard did score 17 in Game 5, he had a ton of opportunities for a bigger night. He played 39 minutes, and would have seen over 40 if it hadn’t turned into a blowout. Pritchard played a big role in getting up the shots that Tatum left behind, attempting 17 field goals — 14 of which were from downtown! He shot just 6-of-17 from the field, leaving room for a 20-30 point game if his shot is falling in his current role. Might be worth sprinkling some alternate lines if you’re confident here.
SGP: Luke Kornet 6+ Points, 6+ Rebounds, 1+ Block (+125) – 1-unit
Kristaps Porzingis clearly wasn’t right yet again, playing a series-low 12 minutes in Game 5. KP didn’t even get in the rotation in the second half, with Joe Mazzula saying he couldn’t breathe and was only available in an emergency situation. Maybe Boston gives Porzingis another look in Game 6 to see if he can improve at all, but no matter what, it’ll be limited minutes (if he even plays at all).
Luke Kornet started the second half of Game 5 and had a tremendous game — 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks on a perfect 5-of-5 from the field in 26 minutes. While it’s unrealistic to expect Kornet to be the same dominant force in Game 6, he’s going to play a large role for the Celtics. I’ll build a same game parlay around Kornet to produce once again in Game 6.
Celtics +2.5 (-108) – 1-unit
I’m not here to tell you the Celtics are better without Tatum, but they are just as good of a team as the Knicks, if not better. Game 5 was a clear rally at home spot for Boston, so things should get more difficult on the road here. But there’s a lot of pressure on the now favored Knicks to close this series out. Keep in mind that Boston was -6.5 the last time these teams met at Madison Square Garden in Game 4. Is Tatum worth nine points to the spread? That seems like an overreaction, as the Celtics still matchup very well with New York. Give me the Celtics to make this thing interesting.
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