Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
The Celtics are heavily favored to win when they host the Knicks at the TD Garden on Thursday, Jan. 26. Michael Reaves/Getty Images

KEY POINTS

  • The Celtics are favored to get back to their winnings ways against the Knicks
  • The Knicks will try to even their regular-season series with the Knicks
  • New York is gunning for their second-straight win

The Boston Celtics have lost back-to-back games and will be looking to end all that when they host the New York Knicks on Thursday, January 26 at the TD Garden.

Boston is in a slump, losing to the Orlando Magic (98-113) and then the Miami Heat (95-98).

In that loss to the Heat, the Celtics were held to just 13 points in the fourth quarter and saw their 10-point lead vanish through the efforts of Bam Adebayo.

"It was just two good teams out there playing," Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla said. "They made a few more plays at the end than we did."

The C's lost despite the 31-point effort of Jayson Tatum along with 14 rebounds and seven assists.

Derrick White also contributed 23 points and six assists in that loss.

Boston is second in the league in scoring, norming 117.6 points per contest.

In addition, the Celtics have an offensive rating of 116.7, which is third in the league.

On the defensive end, Boston is surrendering 112 points per game and also tops the league with a defensive rating of 110.8.

On the other side, New York is looking for another win to follow up its 105-103 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

That win snapped the Knicks' four-game losing spell with Julius Randle leading the way.

The 28-year-old forward finished with a double-double of 36 points and 13 rebounds, including eight three-pointers.

"That's the thing, You've got to keep fighting and you've got to fight the good fight," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau stated. "So sometimes you fall short and then you've got to work your way out of it."

The Knicks are 14th in the league in scoring with an average of 114.1 points per game. New York has an offensive rating of 114.9.

Defensively, they are giving up 112.1 points per outing

In their regular season series matchup, the Celtics hold the edge 1-0.

The Celtics are -8 favorites to come out top at the expense of the +8-graded Knicks.

Meanwhile, the moneyline is -344 for Boston and +270 for New York.

The game will be shown via the NBA League Pass and through fuboTV at 7:30 PM ET.

Julius Randle
Julius Randle will need a huge performance to lift the Knicks over the Celtics. Getty Images | Julio Aguilar