Knicks vs. Celtics Prediction, Spread, NBA Picks – Friday, October 23

Friday’s 12-game NBA slate will include the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics squaring off at 7 p.m. ET at TD Garden on Amazon Prime. Before tip-off occurs, the Celtics are slight home favorites, returning a 1.69x payout to win on PrizePicks.

New York had its banner night spoiled on Tuesday, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers at home to begin the season. Boston also started the new campaign with a loss on Tuesday, with the Detroit Pistons erasing a double-digit deficit to emerge with a victory.

Below, we'll break down the matchup for our Knicks vs. Celtics prediction, including the winners, spread, over/under and player projections on PrizePicks.

Make your Knicks vs. Celtics picks on PrizePicks now!

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Knicks vs. Celtics Prediction, Spread, Over/Under – Friday, October 23

The Celtics enter Friday’s matchup as 2.5-point home favorites, returning a 1.69x payout if they win outright.

Here are the full payouts for the Knicks vs. Celtics. PrizePicks data is live at the time of writing and is subject to change.

Make your Knicks vs. Celtics prediction on the spread on PrizePicks.

Stats used in this article are from Basketball Reference, NBA.com, or databallr unless stated otherwise.

After receiving their NBA Finals rings on Tuesday, the Knicks took a 58-54 lead into halftime against the 76ers. However, scoring only 42 points in the second half and shooting 37.2% from the floor proved to be too much to overcome for the reigning champs.

Nevertheless, this is a Knicks squad that was one of four teams to be seventh or better in offensive rating (118.7) and defensive rating (112.3) last season. While PG Jalen Brunson led New York with 21 points in their season opener against Philly, his 6-for-19 shooting shouldn’t be something to get accustomed to.

As for the Celtics, newly acquired SF Paul George set a franchise debut record, dropping 38 points against the Pistons on Tuesday. Even with George’s efforts, his performance was overshadowed by the fact that Detroit came back from down 22 points in the second half to secure a win over Boston.

It was an uncharacteristic outing from PF Jayson Tatum, who shot 6-of-23 and failed to make any of his 7 3-point attempts in the opener. The Celtics were also one of the four top teams in offensive rating (120.0) and defensive rating (111.7) in 2025-26.

Ahead of Friday’s contest, the Knicks still return the fourth-lowest payout to win the NBA Finals (9.09x), while the Celtics have the sixth-lowest payout (11.11x).

Knicks vs. Celtics Prediction on Over/Under – 10/23/26

Here are the key stats behind our Knicks vs. Celtics prediction on Friday, including a pick for the over/under on PrizePicks.

• In their openers, the Celtics were 23rd in pace (100.5), while the Knicks were 17th in pace (102.0).
• Neither of these teams gave up second-chance points often, with New York first (13.1) and Boston sixth (14.1) in that metric last year.
• The Knicks had a league-worst 5-14 record to the over when playing as road underdogs in 2025-26. 
• The Celtics also had a league-worst 16-29 record to the over when playing at TD Garden a season ago.
• Fewer than 224 points have been scored in four of the last five meetings between New York and Boston.

Lock in your Knicks vs. Celtics prediction on PrizePicks before tip-off.

Knicks vs. Celtics Picks, Player Stats for PrizePicks: 10/23/26

The top Knicks vs. Celtics player picks for Friday, October 23 on PrizePicks include C Karl-Anthony Towns and PF Jayson Tatum.

Knicks C Karl-Anthony Towns vs. Celtics: 11.5 Rebounds

• Towns was in the 99th percentile in RPG (11.9) at the C position last season.
• Even with Towns getting in foul trouble against the 76ers on Tuesday, he still finished with 12 boards.
• During the 2025-26 season, Towns had the 11th-most rebound chances per game (14.4).
• Plus, Towns has snagged 12+ rebounds in 14 of his last 20 regular season games, which includes a meeting against the Celtics.

Add Karl-Anthony Towns + Knicks to win to your PrizePicks lineup now.

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Celtics PF Jayson Tatum vs. Knicks: 15.5 Rebs + Asts

• Across his 16 games in 2025-26, Tatum had a career-high 10.0 RPG.
• In his lone matchup against the Knicks last campaign, Tatum had 21 combined rebounds and assists.
• Tatum achieved 15 RA in the season opener despite surprisingly grabbing only 4 rebounds against the Pistons.
• On top of that, Tatum had 11 assists on 17 potential assists in his first game without SF Jaylen Brown, so he could see more playmaking opportunities this year.

Add Jayson Tatum + Celtics to cover the spread to your PrizePicks lineup now.

Make Knicks vs. Celtics Picks on PrizePicks

The Knicks and Celtics are both looking to bounce back from losses in their season openers when they meet on Friday. With both teams excelling on the defensive end of the court and playing at a slower pace, it could be a low-scoring affair between New York and Boston.

Don't wait until tip-off — make your Knicks vs. Celtics picks on PrizePicks now! Pick players, predict More or Less on their stats, and cash in if you're right. With Team Picks, you can make predictions on NBA game winners, spreads, and over/unders, now available on PrizePicks.

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