BOSTON — If objects within the rear-view mirror are nearer than they seem, it’s time for the Celtics to begin watching their again.
As a result of the Knicks simply stole Recreation 1 from beneath their ft. And now, what was alleged to be a lifeless sequence could be very a lot alive.
And in the event you rinse the primary three regular-season video games from the document — or at the least from reminiscence — you could have two extra time selections: one which went the Celtics’ means with 4 video games left within the common season schedule, then Monday night time’s 108-105 victory to open the Jap Convention semifinals.
“We’re here and we’re just trying to play hard and win games. Obviously [those losses] in the regular season, we just had to learn from it and get better,” ahead Mikal Bridges stated after the sport. “But we keep fighting. The last game of the regular season helped us. We were up three. It’s a lot of learning, but it’s the playoffs now. All that stuff’s out the window. You just have to go out there and win the game.”
And but it seemed, at the least by way of three quarters, just like the same-old track. The Celtics took benefit of the Knicks’ on a number of fronts, getting Karl-Anthony Cities into foul bother with three early personals, then taking part in the Hack-a-Shaq sport with Mitchell Robinson, who shot simply 3-of-10 from the foul line to stifle an in any other case dominant defensive efficiency.
The Knicks responded with a 28-9 run to convey issues shut sufficient for Captain Clutch to assist power extra time.
Jalen Brunson scored 29 factors, together with 11 within the fourth quarter alone and practically received the sport on a floater that banked ricocheted off the glass then off the rim. OG Anunoby additionally stepped up large with 29 factors and 6 threes of his personal.
“I felt like I had it going early, just trying to hunt for shots and get out in transition and run,” Anunoby stated after the sport. “Just trying to be aggressive and make the right play whether it’s passing it or shooting it.”
The Knicks, who walked into their second-round sequence as overwhelming underdogs to unseat the reigning champs, simply received their first win over the Celtics all season — and it couldn’t have come at a greater time.
As a result of on paper, the Knicks and Celtics stack up alongside each other.
The Celtics are reigning champs constructed on a pair of All-Star wings, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Knicks hope to unseat them their very own All-Star duo, Brunson and Karl-Anthony Cities.
The Celtics get stops with a pair of all-world defenders, Jrue Vacation and Derrick White. The Knicks have two of the perfect 3-and-D wings in all of basketball: Bridges and Anunoby.
However that’s the place the similarities finish, and the place the hesitance to imagine the Knicks had an opportunity on the reigning champs seeps in deep. The Celtics have been there and finished that. They’ve extra dependable, examined depth than the Knicks. Plus they’ve the perfect participant within the sequence.
Or at the least they thought. Tatum shot simply 7-of-23 for 23 factors by way of 4 quarters and extra time, and Brown, too, completed with 23 factors on 7-of-20 capturing from the sector.
“Just forcing him into difficult shots,” Anunoby stated of his matchup with Tatum. “He’s a great player. He’s gonna make some tough ones. So make him as uncomfortable as possible and see if he makes the shot. Make it as difficult as possible.”
The Knicks additionally held the Celtics to simply 15-of-60 capturing from three-point vary, a stark deviation from a regular-season development that noticed the Celtics pelt New York from downtown.
A key distinction?
Kristaps Porzingis left the sport within the second quarter with an sickness, and Boston sharpshooter Sam Hauser was assisted off the court docket within the third quarter.
In the meantime, the Knicks shot 17-of-37 from downtown and weathered a 3-of-13 capturing night time from Mikal Bridges. Bridges couldn’t discover the underside of the online, however he made an enormous three in extra time and got here up with a steal on Boston’s last offensive possession, then heaved the ball into the air as time expired.
“Yeah, just staying with it. I’d been missing a lot, a lot of shots that I’m upset with myself about missing,” stated Bridges. “The basketball gods blessed me for just staying with it, because it banked. I don’t remember a time I banked in a corner 3. Yeah, just the basketball gods, man, just looking out.”
For a protracted stretch of Monday’s matchup between the 2 groups, the script seemed acquainted. The Celtics constructed a lead as massive as 20 and had been poised to run away with the sequence opener, and a blowout at residence would have set the tone for extra lopsided victories, similar to the common season.
The Knicks could have laid down and settle for their destiny throughout the common season. With the stakes raised, New York punched again. However very like the 21-0 run the Knicks utilized in Recreation 1 of the primary spherical towards the Detroit Pistons, the Knicks ran the desk towards the Celtics on Monday.
The Celtics forgot the inscription on the backside of their rear-view mirror: Objects that seem listed below are nearer than they could appear, and the Knicks — who went 0-4 towards Boston, 0-4 towards Cleveland and 0-2 towards the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder within the common season — might not be as far off because the world thought.
Possibly they’re not behind in any respect. The identical 0-4 regular-season document that was cleaned coming into the second spherical now reads 1-0 in favor of New York.
Now, the Knicks have proof of idea. They’ve overwhelmed the reigning champs as soon as.
They will do it three extra occasions.
Initially Printed: Might 5, 2025 at 10:14 PM EDT
