Recap: Boston Celtics at New York Knicks

It was not pretty but the Boston Celtics are back on a winning streak after defeating the New York Knicks, 97-89. Neither team scored more than 27 points in a quarter, and Boston’s offense looked flat all game. Nonetheless, the important thing is Boston won a game that they should have and didn’t let their loss to the Orlando Magic snowball.

Once again Boston’s winning performance was a team effort. Tyler Zeller came off the bench and put up huge numbers. He recorded his first double-double of the season in 27 minutes of action, 16 points and 10 rebounds. Evan Turner also added a double-double with his all-around performance of, 14 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Kelly Olynyk contributed 13 points off the bench after picking up three fouls in the first quarter.

Jae Crowder‘s shin looked fine as he was able to seemingly shut down Carmelo Anthony. Melo shot 4-16 from the field and fouled out with under a minute to go in the game. Crowder shot 6-10 from the field on his way to 16 points, once again getting it done on both sides of the floor. It was nice to see Crowder outplay Anthony and give him fits all game.

Feb 2, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) drives to the basket past Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder (99) during the first half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /

Isaiah Thomas had to take the game over in the first half to keep Boston close, and then did the same in the fourth to bury the Knicks at the end. He finished with a game high 20 points and eight assists. He was a beautiful play-maker today as he found a lot of outlet passes for easy baskets tonight.

Kristaps Porzingis had a quiet night for New York; 10 points, 5 rebounds on 4-11 shooting. Although, Sasha Vujacic was the surprise performer for the Knicks as he went off for 13 points in 18 minutes.

The Celtics shot poor from the field all game long, despite having five players score in double-figures. Boston shot 44.4 percent from the field and 15.8 percent from behind the arc (3-19) in the game. It was surprising they could hang around early as they started the game out 0-13 from three before finally making one. Three-pointers are a big part of Boston’s game and was the main reason they struggled so much tonight, offensively. Boston did pick it up a little in the second half as they were only shooting 38.6 percent at halftime.

Defensively, the Celtics had a solid game. They held the Knicks to 37.8 percent shooting and forced 16 turnovers. New York had five players score in double-figures, Langston Galloway was the lone starter not to. Arron Afflalo had a team high 18 points, although, their player of the game was Robin Lopez. He had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Lopez also recorded nine offensive rebounds before grabbing his first defensive board.

The Knicks out-rebounded the Celtics 50-45 but their inability to finish near the basket and sloppy game, by both teams, let the Celtics stick around, despite their poor shooting as well.

It was a tough start for the Celtics as the Knicks jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead. Boston was able to come back with their own 9-0 run before Anthony committed his second foul of the game, midway through the first quarter. That changed the momentum of the whole game. That allowed the Celtics to stick around, even though they had their own foul trouble. Kelly Olynyk picked up three quick fouls but Brad Stevens elected to keep him in the game.

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Afflalo had a huge first quarter for New York as he had 11 of his 18 in the first. Turnovers by New York allowed the Celtics to hang around, only trailing 22-21 after the first quarter.

Tyler Zeller made two quick baskets to start the second quarter and the Celtics led 29-21 after starting on an 8-0 run. New York took the lead back midway through the second quarter and kept it for the rest of the half. Boston committed a lot of fouls, which ruined the flow of the game and let the Knicks hang onto the lead. The game got even sloppier for both teams but a buzzer beating corner two by Avery Bradley cut the lead to 47-45 at the half.

Bradley struggled mightily from the field. He, and a lot of the team, had a lot of open looks but could not convert them. Bradley only shot 3-13 from the field all game for six points, although did play good defense.

The Celtics came out strong to start the second half, a common theme as of late. Boston quickly jumped ahead, once again, with a 9-2 run in the first couple of minutes.

Halfway through the quarter, Carmelo Anthony went up for a layup but Amir Johnson laid a hard foul on him and the refs reviewed it. The call ended up standing as not a flagrant, as it should have, but it just shows that nothing came easy for Anthony tonight. Isaiah Thomas did get a technical called on him later in the quarter, which may have lit a fire in him.

Recap: Boston Celtics Get Back to Their Winning Ways

By Jeremy Karll | Feb 2, 2016

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