NBA Basketball
2025-05-14 - New York Knicks at Boston Celtics
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : NBA Basketball Playoff Second Round Game 5
Wednesday 14th May 2025 - Scheduled 7pm
12am (British Time)
Preview
No one can ever enjoy seeing an athlete go down with an injury and Jayson Tatum's MRI is going to determine how long the top Boston Celtics player is going to be missing. Not many expect him back for the Playoffs, never mind this Series, but the clearly suffering Tatum could be missing for several months if the injury is nearly as serious as it looked.
The Boston Celtics blew yet another big lead in the second half as they fell to 3-1 behind in this Second Round Series and the defending Champions return home looking to stave off elimination.
Being able to do that without Jayson Tatum is going to be extremely challenging, especially after Tatum was putting together the best performance in the Series in Game 4 and all of the pressure is on his team-mates. They did win eight of ten regular season games that were missed by Tatum and Boston also earned a win over Orlando in the post-season without him, but this is a much sterner test and the Celtics have to be much, much better Defensively if they are going to at least force a Game 6 back at Madison Square Garden.
That was the talk in the Boston locker room having failed to make any kind of stand in the second half of the Game 4 loss and allowing the New York Knicks to have their best Offensive performance of the Second Round by some distance. Losing Jayson Tatum will mean adjustments need to be made on this side of the court having given up too many Offensive Rebounds in Game 4 and the Boston Celtics have to use the energy of the home crowd to try and avoid becoming the latest defending Champion that has failed to reach the Conference Finals in the following season.
New York will feel they have the chance to close the Series as long as they still within touching distance of the Celtics going into the Fourth Quarter.
Clutch play has been the key for the Knicks throughout the Playoffs, but they will just have to be careful about thinking too far ahead or believing they have knocked the fight out of the Celtics, especially with Jayson Tatum expected to be sidelined.
Credit has to be given to the Knicks for fighting back as they have, but it does mean they have been at least 14 points behind in each of the four games played in the Second Round. They will accept that the Boston Celtics can get streaky, but the Knicks arrive here knowing that the favourite has struggled to cover the spread in Game 5 of the Second Round in recent years.
Hosts set as big favourites have had their issues, but the spread is down considerably from Game 1 and 2 after Tatum's injury. This has to be something that the Boston Celtics take inspiration from as they look to keep the Series alive and there remains a feeling that the Celtics will be in a position to have a big lead at some point in Game 5.
They have not been able to close the Knicks down, but you have to believe Boston will double down on the Defensive intensity in this one back at home. The Celtics have not allowed New York to score more than 100 points through the first three games of the Series (in regulation anyway) and the defending Champions may have one last big effort left in them.
Teams that have lost by at least 7 points in Game 4 have bounced back with an 18-6 record against the spread in the last twenty-four occasions that has happened and this Boston team is still good enough to force one more game at Madison Square Garden.
Prediction
If this gets close in the Fourth Quarter, the in-play suggestion would have to be backing the New York Knicks who have been so much better than the Boston Celtics in clutch time.
However, the defending Champions might feel they can rally together after the injury suffered by Jayson Tatum and at least keep this Second Round Series alive.
The Pick :
Boston Celtics 106-98 New York Knicks
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Boston Celtics - 5 Points at -105 with Bovada
