Celtics outrun the Knicks in 114-98 win
The 7-2 Boston Celtics welcomed the 5-4 New York Knicks to Boston on Monday night and both teams came flying out of the gate with very little defense. Both teams traded shots early as there was seven lead changes in the first 6 minutes of the game. The Celtics big 3 of Kristaps Porzingis, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown all got into the action early in this one with with a late Sam Hauser 3-pointer giving Boston a 1-point lead at the end of the first quarter 25-24.
The second quarter was more of the slow slugfest most expected, the Knicks would separate a little bit getting their lead up to 8 multiple times in the quarter. The Celtics would continue to battle back but Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson would continue to hit big shots to keep the Knicks lead around 8 for most of the quarter. Until a Derrick White block into a Tatum dunk would kick start the Celtics offense and they’d close the quarter on a furious 9-2 run capped off by a Brown 3 pointer to cut the lead to one 53-52 at half.
The Celtics started to find their form early in the third quarter as Brown and Porzingis started to click offensively. Boston would extend their 9-2 run at the end of the half to a 20-8 run going up by 4 with 6:30 left in the quarter. Quentin Grimes wouldn’t let the Knicks go quietly as he hit back to back 3’s as the Knicks were 12-25 from long distance with 4 minutes left in the third staying within striking distance of Boston. New York continued to battle but the Celtics offense was too much late in the third big buckets from Hauser and Holiday extended the Celtics lead to 8 at the end of the quarter 84-76.
Celtics would keep their lead early in the 4th but a 9-2 Knicks run with a Josh Hart 3-pointer that he tossed off Jrue’s back would keep New York in this one. Tatum would hit an and-1 3 pointer with 7:57 left in the 4th to give the Celtics a 95-88 lead. However the Knicks just couldn’t get any closer as the Celtics star power proved too much throughout the 4th. Tatum, Porzingis and Brown all scored 20+ and New York just couldn’t keep pace.
Tatum would catch fire late in the 4th hitting multiple 3’s, scoring over 20 in the second half including 18+ in the 4th his MVP campaign is only growing stronger. Joe Mazzula coached a near flawless game and the Celtics superstars did what they do and just outlasted a tough Knicks team in this one on their way to a 114-98 win.
Scaz’s takeaways
- Sam Hauser is proving he can be a legit rotation piece
- Jaylen Brown’s inconsistency is still a problem
- The Knicks defense is for real and they’ll be a tough playoff team
- Jrue Holiday became only the 147th player in NBA history to reach 15,000 points (19 are active players)
