Tip-off: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Line: New York -1, Total: 191

Two struggling Atlantic Division clubs, the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, clash at the famous Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

Boston is clearly in rebuild mode as they’ve started moving their veteran players for youth and draft picks and as a result they have struggled to get victories, going just 3-7 SU (6-4 ATS) since January 14th. They weren’t the easiest games, though, as the Celtics were considered at least five-point underdogs in all but two of the contests which included a six-game, west coast road trip where they were a solid 3-3 SU (5-1 ATS). Miami came into town as 3.5-point underdogs most recently and took down Boston 83-75 in a low scoring battle. The Celtics made a meager 30-of-81 shots (37% FG) in the loss and even did a poor job from the charity stripe (11-for-18). The Knicks have had one of the worst starts in their history and held the worst record in the league for quite some time before getting SU victories in five of their last seven games (6-1 ATS). Over that period they won three of the contests while getting points and have now won four straight when playing at home. New York hosted the Lakers this Sunday afternoon in a matinee battle as three-point favorites and earned a decisive 92-80 win behind some incredible three-point shooting (10-for-22). They also stepped it up on defense, allowing L.A. to make a mere 27-of-76 shots (35.5% FG) as a team. Boston has not earned too many wins on the road this year, going 7-15 SU (14-8 ATS) as the away team and will be going up against a Knicks team which is just 7-17 SU (8-16 ATS) at home. The one game played between these clubs this year went to the Knicks in a 101-95 game as they were getting 6.5 points on the road. New York made 49.5% of their shots in the rare victory and forced 17 turnovers in what was its third straight win in this matchup. They’ve averaged 110.3 PPG in the last three meetings with Boston and are 10-5 SU (9-6 ATS) overall in the past three seasons against their division rivals. Some trends to watch include that the Celtics are a perfect 7-0 ATS this season in road games after failing to cover two of their past three ATS and the Knicks are a solid 11-2 ATS (85%) in home games after covering four of their past five games in the last three years. On the injury front, SF Tayshaun Prince (Hip) is hoping to play in this one while C Kelly Olynyk (Ankle) will be sidelined until after the All-Star break. For New York, their big-man situation is dire as they could be without C Cole Aldrich (Calf), PF Amar’e Stoudemire (Ankle) and PF Travis Wear (Hip) who are all questionable.

Can the Knicks stay hot with a home victory over the Celtics on Tuesday? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2014-15 season. StatFox Forecaster has a strong 56% ATS record (125-98-1) in featured games this season. In terms of Best Bets, the experts have a huge 61% ATS (69-44) record since Jan. 2, led by StatFox Scott who is a stellar 67% ATS (20-10) in Best Bets since Dec. 21, improving his record to 56% ATS (39-31) for the season. StatFox Gary is also red-hot with a 61% ATS (14-9) mark in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 1, and 56% ATS (39-31) this season. StatFox Brian is 60% ATS (29-19) in Best Bets since Nov. 29, and is now 56% ATS (39-31) in season Best Bets. StatFox Zach is 61% ATS (14-9) in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 2, while StatFox Dave is 64% ATS (7-4) in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 18.

The Celtics have actually been a solid offensive unit despite their lack of experience and are scoring 100.9 PPG (5th in Eastern Conference) behind 44.8% shooting as a team. Unfortunately it is their defense which has killed them, giving up 103.0 PPG (6th-worst in league) as opponents make 44.9% of their attempts. PF Jared Sullinger (14.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG) has blossomed into a solid NBA starter, but has made just 17-of-51 shots (33.3% FG) in the past four contests. He was an absolute mess when his team was defeated by the Knicks earlier this year, missing all six of his field goal attempts as he put up a goose egg in the points column and added just four rebounds. SG Avery Bradley (13.1 PPG) has scored double-digit points in each of the past seven games and has done a great job forcing turnovers recently, getting 1.6 SPG over his last five performances. He wasn’t able to go when these clubs last met but did a decent job (13.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG) in two games against New York last year. SG Evan Turner (8.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 4.3 APG) has seen a much increased role since the departure of Rondo but hasn’t done much scoring of late with 23 total points in his last four games (5.8 PPG). He was on the court for 36 minutes in the loss against the Knicks back in mid-January, scoring 13 points but also committing five fouls and five turnovers.

New York puts little fear in their opponents with its offensive game, going for a putrid 92.7 PPG (3rd-worst in league) as it makes 43.9% of its field goal attempts (10th-worst in league). They haven’t done too much better on defense either, allowing the opposition to net 100.2 PPG (11th-worst in league) behind 45.8% shooting (9th-worst in league). SF Carmelo Anthony (24.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG) has eclipsed 30 points in two of the last three games, both of which the team won, as he is coming off a great performance (31 points, 8 rebounds) on 13-of-25 shooting (52% FG) against the Lakers. He had a team-high 22 points to go with five rebounds, three blocks and a steal when these teams last met. SG Tim Hardaway Jr. (11.3 PPG) is an all-or-nothing type of player and brought nothing against the Lakers on Sunday, hitting just 3-of-10 shots for eight points. He did have 16 points when he saw the Celtics a few weeks ago, but once again struggled with his shot (5-for-13) as he added five rebounds. PG Langston Galloway (12.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.1 SPG) has came out of nowhere to give this team a boost and despite making just 39% of his shots over the last five games, he’s gotten double-digit points four times and has played at least 30 minutes in each contest. He was not yet with the team when they last played Boston.