New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics Bold Predictions for Round 2 NBA Playoffs Series

After the New York Knicks eliminated the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, one of the best and oldest rivalries in NBA history is set to resume in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

This matchup will be the 16th in the playoffs between New York and the Boston Celtics, with the lower-seeded Knicks having a chance to even up the series (of series).

Boston has won eight, while New York is at seven.

Before the historic franchises tip this off, we'll preview their head-to-head in the form of some bold predictions.

The Celtics just obliterated the all-time record for threes in a single regular season.

The Knicks, on the other hand, gave up the seventh-highest opponents' three-point percentage.

Boston will take advantage of their sometimes spotty perimeter defense, and Derrick White (who led the team with 265 triples this season) seems like a prime candidate to do so.

In the playoffs, his career high for threes in a single game is eight. And in this series against New York, he'll top that.

This may not seem all that bold for a player with a scoring average of 30.5 points over the last three postseasons, but it's not like Boston is entering this series without contenders for this honor.

Jayson Tatum averaged 31.3 in the Magic series. Jaylen Brown has averaged 20-plus in each of his last five playoff runs. Heck, even Brunson's teammate, Karl-Anthony Towns is likely to have a few scoring outbursts.

But no one in this series dominates the ball quite like Brunson, who led the entire NBA in average time of possession in the regular season.

And in a matchup that figures to have multiple games go down to the wire, you can expect Brunson, the 2024-25 Clutch Player of the Year, to try to win them almost singlehandedly.

All of that will add up to the highest individual scoring average in this series.

A hamstring injury limited Jrue Holiday to just two appearances in the first round. For a soon-to-be-35-year-old guard, that's concerning.

But it doesn't sound like the injury is a serious one. He was essentially day-to-day for much of the time he's missed. And against a better, more experienced opponent in New York, the Celtics simply need him more than they did against Orlando.

That will lead Boston to be a little less cautious about his timeline and get him out on the floor. And even if he's not quite 100 percent, simply having him as another option to throw at Jalen Brunson will have a positive impact for the Cs.

Holiday's steady hand and willingness and ability to space the floor around Tatum and Brown will help on the other end, too.

He isn't likely to have many huge games in terms of raw production, but his mere presence on the floor will make a difference.

Karl-Anthony Towns had an incredible first season with the New York Knicks, but his having to anchor the defense is part of why it finished the season outside the top 10 on that end.

And his propensity to foul is a big part of why he struggled in that defensive role.

On the season, KAT was tied for the league lead in personal fouls per game. In the last three contests against Detroit, he totaled five, five and six fouls.

So, even though Boston didn't draw a lot of fouls in the regular season, Towns' tendencies and the intensity of the postseason will still end at least one of his nights early.

For his entire career, Jayson Tatum has just four triple-doubles in the regular season and one in the playoffs.

On a team that spreads the playmaking responsibility around a decent amount, he just doesn't get a ton of opportunities to stack up the assists.

But he's coming off a first round in which he averaged 31.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 5.3 dimes. In the win that ended that matchup with the Orlando Magic, he got to the 10-assist threshold (but finished with eight rebounds).

Against another big, physical defense, Tatum's playmaking will once again be crucial. And the stakes of a closeout game will motivate him to raise his level of play just a bit more and notch that second career playoff triple-double.

That, in turn, will push the Celtics through to another conference finals.