The 2024 - 2025 NBA season is officially underway with tonight's opener between the New York Knicks and the NBA Champion Boston Celtics.

The Celtics will receive their rings before the game and then will look to build on their dominating 64 - 18 record from last season while the Knicks want to improve upon their 50 - 32 record that saw them eliminated in the 2nd round of the playoffs last year.

Preview of New York vs Boston Player Props

Let's see how I used the Rithmm App to create custom sports betting models to get my player props for the New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics.

• Date: Tuesday October 22nd
• Time: 7:30 PM ET
• Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA
• How to Watch: TNT, NBA League Pass

Boston Celtics Preview

The Boston Celtics enter tonight's game as the reigning NBA Champions and will be looking to have a repeat of last season as they open with the Knicks at home tonight.

The Celtics run out arguably one of the best duo's on the court in Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Tatum can score from anywhere and Brown is an all-around star that will give any defense a headache. Tatum averaged 26.9 points, 4.9 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game last season while Brown averaged 23 points, 3.6 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Boston will be without big man Kristaps Porzingis who is out indefinitely with a foot injury.

New York Knicks Preview

The Knicks decided that a 2nd round playoff appearance wasn't enough so they went out and spent some money acquiring Mikal Bridges from Brooklyn and Karl-Anthony Towns from Minnesota.

Both should add much needed power to help super guard Jalen Brunson, who was a one man wrecking machine last season averaging 28.7 points, 6.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game and at times carrying this Knicks team on his back to a playoff appearance.

New York will be without Precious Achiuwa as he was downgraded to “out” with a hamstring injury and Mitchell Robinson who is out indefinitely with an ankle injury.

How I use Models for Knicks vs Celtics Player Props

Being it is the first game of the season, we're a week or so away from seeing what each team is going to bring to the table every night. The Celtics are heavily favored tonight with their line sitting at -225 on the money line and laying -5.5 points. Typically I'm a totals bettor with NBA games but as it's so early in the season, I prefer to let things shake out for a week or so before I begin in earnest.

I fully expect the Celtics to win this game outright and do expect them to cover the -5.5 spread. And since my Rithmm app didn't like any of my models for the spread, moneyline or total, I dug a little deeper into the app and decided that I would look at a prop for tonight's game.

Rithmm has a wide array of tricks and treats to help you with any NBA game this season. They have props for every NBA player prop market, predictions for every NBA game (spread, moneyline, totals) and a sweet research lab that gives you trends, standings, team stats, rankings and more.

As you see above, my model is high on Luke Kornet for the Celtics to have under 4.5 rebounds this evening. Kornet has only passed this twice in his last 10 games last season and, as you can see in the Rithmm app, this has an 80% hit rate as Kornet only averages 2.9 per game.

So I'll be taking Kornet Under 4.5 Rebounds.

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This AI-driven analysis is just a glimpse of what you can expect when using Rithmm. Whether you’re looking to refine your betting strategy or want to explore in-depth data trends, Rithmm's AI tools for sports betting has all you need. Don't miss out on making more informed decisions - download the Rithmm app today for full access to our AI NBA predictions and custom sports betting models.