Celtics vs Knicks: Why Boston Will Cruise to Blowout Win

Hide the women and children in New York. This one's about to get really ugly.

The New York Knicks play host to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night and it's not even going to be close.

The Boston Celtics are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. They've won six of their last seven games and they're playing a team that is missing Amar'e Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin.

Without Stoudemire and Lin, the New York Knicks are a one-dimensional team with just Carmelo Anthony running the show. 

This will become a major problem for the Knicks in tonight's game. Carmelo is extremely offense-oriented and the Celtics are one of the best defensive teams in the league. Their stingy defense will stifle Carmelo and limit his scoring.

Even if Melo goes off and puts up 40 points like he has done twice in the last five games, the Knicks don't really have any other scoring options with Stoudemire and Lin sidelined. 

Lin's absence is perhaps the most detrimental for the Knicks' chances in this game. He was an unbelievable facilitator and distributor for the Knicks and he made everyone's job easier on offense. Without him, they have to become overdependent on Anthony, and the team just becomes too predictable.

This leads us to the main reason why the Celtics will blow the Knicks out of the water:

Rajon Rondo.

Rondo is easily the most underrated point guard in the league and he could very well be the best one. He has had at least 10 assists in 22 consecutive games. His work ethic and basketball IQ is unmatched by any other point guard in the league.

He doesn't just dish either. He can score and rebound, too. The Knicks will have their hands full trying to contain him tonight.

Plus, there's precedent of Rondo owning the Knicks. 

In an early March overtime victory, Rondo had 20 assists, 18 points and 17 rebounds in a performance for the ages. Rondo owns the Knicks and there's no reason why that won't change on Tuesday night. He'll be going up against the aging Baron Davis and should have another field day.

Finally, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce will have solid scoring nights because of Rondo. He's going to facilitate the job for the two scorers, and quite frankly, the Knicks don't really have anyone to guard Allen and Pierce.

Who's going to stop them? Iman Shumpert? Really?

It's also important to note that Kevin Garnett has been looking like his old self as of late. He's averaging 20 points per game in his last five games and he'll be going up against a depleted Knicks frontcourt.

The Celtics have won the last two meetings between these two Atlantic Division rivals. Rondo has just been too much for the Knicks to handle.

That being said, those games were close. The average margin of victory in those two games for the Celtics was just three points.

Tonight will be a different story.

Because the Knicks are depleted by injuries and the Celtics are on fire, expect a Boston beatdown on New York. The Celtics are slowly showing that they have enough in the tank to make another run for an NBA title and they're getting hot at the right time.

Tonight they'll show once again why they're a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.