After a grueling series against Detroit, the New York Knicks travel to Boston to face their rival Celtics in Round 2 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Knicks heavily relied on the play of Jalen Brunson, although some nights he got help from Karl Anthony-Towns and others. Now that they are going up against a defensively elite team, though, Brunson may not be able to count on that help being there. That means most of the Knicks are going to be tougher to start for DFS, whereas the Boston Celtics still have the usual names that any player could realistically start and pull out a win.
Lock of the Game
Jayson Tatum
Boston Celtics
VS
New York Knicks
(0-0)
In the past three games against Orlando, Tatum dropped 36, 37, and 35, respectively. The fact of the matter is, come playoff time, nothing is stopping Tatum from scoring 30+. New York doesn’t really have a defender that they can throw at him, and doubling Tatum just leaves Derrick White and Jaylen Brown open. The 9K that he is worth is also cheaper than some of the other superstars in the game, so it could be the cheapest option to get some guaranteed points.
Start ‘Em
Karl Anthony-Towns
New York Knicks
AT
Boston Celtics
(0-0)
A big issue for New York in this series will be poking holes in Boston’s interior defense. The easiest way they can do that is by getting Karl Anthony-Towns going from the three-point line. He’s shown that he can be reliable from that distance (in Game 4 against Detroit, he shot 5-7 from three-point range). This would open up the lane for Brunson and others to drive and score, so Anthony-Towns might have a better game than usual based on the fact that he might shoot a lot more.
Derrick White
Boston Celtics
VS
New York Knicks
(0-0)
White is a quiet contender for best three-point shooter in the league (at least behind Steph Curry). Statistically, he turns in a lot of 16-point-ish games, but he does have the capability to pop off. In Game 1 of the series against the Magic, White had 30 points after hitting seven threes while Tatum and Brown were on the court. New York’s defense will be concentrating on Tatum and Brown, so White just needs to beat his man to get a shot off. At 6.5k, White is also cheaper than Brown.
Sit ‘Em
OG Anunoby
New York Knicks
AT
Boston Celtics
(0-0)
After having a great regular season, Anunoby is having a spotty postseason. In Game 3 against Detroit, Anunoby had 22 points. He could only score eight points the next night. The issue for Anunoby is that he will have to deal with defenders like Al Horford and Jayson Tatum. That might be too much defense for the 6.1K it costs to buy Anunoby.
Josh Hart
New York Knicks
AT
Boston Celtics
(0-0)
Although a good player, Hart is not going to get enough looks to be worth his 6.8K, and here’s why. Given how good Boston is, the Knicks might find themselves down early. When the Knicks are down, Brunson usually takes over. He might sprinkle some passes to Karl Anthony-Towns, but otherwise, Brunson will be doing the shooting. That means Hart just won’t be seeing the basketball a lot. Looking at Round 1 of the playoffs, the most Hart scored was 15 points. Given the way the team plays, it’s difficult for Hart to score more than that.
Fade of the Game
Cameron Payne
New York Knicks
AT
Boston Celtics
(0-0)
Outside of a 14-point game 1 against Detroit, Cameron Payne hasn’t scored in double digits so far in these playoffs. It will be tougher for him to score against Boston, who has Holiday, White, and even Payton Pritchard, who can defend well. On top of that, the starters will be seeing more play time, so all of these things combined reveal the likelihood that Payne won’t be seeing the ball too often in this game.
