On Saturday afternoon in New York, the Boston Celtics looked like a completely different team than the one that fumbled away leads in each of their first two games against the Knicks. Comfortable and confident on both ends of the floor, the Celtics built another large lead against New York, and this time, they held it. Having led by as many as 31 points, the Celtics scored a crucial win in Madison Square Garden to avoid a 3-0 hole in the second round of the Eastern Conference, winning 115-93.
Payton Pritchard was the hero of the day for the Celtics, leading the team with 23 points and five three-pointers. Jayson Tatum still did not entirely resemble himself, but cashed in five threes of his own en route to 22 points, and Jaylen Brown and Derrick White combined for 36 points. For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson had another strong outing with a game-high 27 points, but New York lacked a credible scoring threat outside of Karl-Anthony Towns’ inefficient 21 (5-of-18 shooting).
If the Celtics were feeling pressure down 0-2 in the series, they didn’t show it in the opening quarter this afternoon. They rapidly opened up a double-digit lead over the Knicks, and looked confident and decisive scoring the basketball in the process. Most encouragingly, after consecutive miserable performances from three-point range, they connected on their first four threes of the game en route to 6-of-7 shooting from deep in the first quarter. They racked up more than a third of their scoring output from Game 2 in the first 12 minutes, taking a 36-20 lead into the second quarter.
The Knicks’ Josh Hart appeared to be banged up midway through the quarter. He took a hard fall after a missed layup attempt, landing directly on his back without the ability to brace for the fall. He appeared to be moving gingerly on the subsequent possession, and at the next stoppage of play, he departed the game. He did return to the court to open the second, however.
Perhaps concerningly, depending on your point of view of the series thus far, the Celtics pushed their lead up over 20 points in the early minutes of the second quarter. They kept up the offensive tempo and continued to look comfortable behind the arc, and New York never developed any meaningful momentum in the frame. The lead entering halftime was 25, with the Celtics ahead 71-46, and now they were going to need to prove they could maintain that advantage.
The Knicks developed another injury concern in the second quarter, with Towns appearing to injure his non-shooting hand after getting tangled up with Luke Kornet in the paint. Towns remained in the game and hit several shots, but visibly appeared to struggle with the injury for the ensuing several minutes.
Having lost consecutive games after leading by 20 points, the Celtics had a lot to prove in the second half this afternoon. A 7-2 run to open the third quarter was a good way to start, with Boston claiming a 30-point advantage over New York in the early minutes. The Knicks responded in kind with a modest run of their own, but a proactive timeout from Joe Mazzulla helped the Celtics keep ahold of the rope. If the Knicks were going to make a comeback, they would need an especially magical fourth quarter to make it happen. After no change in the status quo in the third quarter, the Celtics entered the home stretch with a 26-point lead, 96-70.
The fourth quarter has been the boogeyman for the Celtics in this series, and they would have to weather another one to walk out of Madison Square Garden victorious this afternoon. The Knicks surge was going to come eventually, and how Boston responded would define the game. Unsurprisingly, the challenge came from Brunson, who cashed a pair of three-pointers in the early minutes of the fourth to power a 9-3 run and cut the Boston lead down to 20, prompting a Mazzulla timeout with just under 10 minutes to play.
This time, though, the Celtics shut the door. They returned to play and locked down the New York offense, with a couple tough two-point buckets restoring their margin of error. The Knicks scored just two points over the next four minutes of play, and the clock ultimately bled away their chances of sparking any kind of comeback.
Next up, the Celtics will remain in New York for Game 4 of the second-round series, looking to even the score with the Knicks this Monday at 7:30 PM EST on ESPN.
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