The Boston Celtics have been unstoppable within the playoffs since falling to the Miami Warmth in Recreation 7 of the 2023 Japanese Convention Finals. They’ve since gained an NBA championship, notched 61 regular-season wins in 2024-25, and defeated the Orlando Magic in 5 video games final month.
Joe Mazzulla’s Celtics, lengthy the hunters, at the moment are the hunted. They confronted elimination in Recreation 6 of the Japanese Convention Semifinals on Friday at Madison Sq. Backyard.
Boston fended off the Knicks for a 127-102 victory at TD Backyard on Wednesday, even with out star ahead Jayson Tatum. To evade elimination on Friday night time, the Celtics wanted to summon that very same resilience.
“One thing that you anticipate is that you’re going to get the Knicks’ absolute best game,” Mazzulla stated. “You have to be able to dictate the environment, minimize [bad plays] and maximize the plays we need to make through our execution and our toughness. They’re obviously going to fight better than they did last game, and we need to find ways to do that as well.”
The Knicks, now relentless hunters, confronted intense strain on Friday as properly. After an opportunity to achieve their first Japanese Convention Finals since 1999-2000, they have been defeated soundly on Wednesday.
One other loss would pressure the Knicks again to TD Backyard for a decisive Recreation 7, the place they maintain a 7-9 all-time file in these eventualities. In the meantime, Boston has a 22-6 file in Recreation 7s at house all-time.
With one other kill shot of their sights, the Knicks couldn’t afford to overlook.
“I think that’s what the playoffs are,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau stated. “There’s a lot of emotional highs and lows and you have to deal with those things. I think it’s important to be disciplined, right? I think the discipline gets you past any distractions. You have to play with toughness, but each game you have to reset and be ready for that game. What’s going to go into winning this game? So, there’s no carryover from the previous game. There’s no looking ahead. You have to lock into exactly what’s in front of you.”
Initially Revealed: Could 16, 2025 at 7:46 PM EDT
