Celtics Sneak By Struggling Knicks
Celtics use speed and athleticism to out-grind Knicks for Fifth straight win.
With a monumental match up between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers on the horizon, Friday’s game against the lowly New York Knicks had all the makings of a let down for Boston.
On January 12th, the Celtics fell to the Knicks 120-114 at Madison Square Garden, bringing each team’s record to .500. Since that night, the teams have sped in opposite directions. The Knicks now sit at 25-37 (13th in the East), and the Celtics at 37-25 (3rd in the East). The Celtics had won 12 straight at home coming into Friday’s game, whereas the Knicks had lost 15 of their last 18 overall.
Recent success, however, has no bearing on future results. The Celtics needed to play well on Friday to get a necessary win over a Knicks team with very little to play for, but it would not be as easy as the experts thought.
The pace of Friday’s game between the Celtics and Knicks was set early on, with no shortage of fouls and made baskets. Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas was aggressive early on, showing his ability to score in and out of the paint. Jae Crowder also continued his scoring ways in the first quarter as he was able to make tough mid-range shots. It was the shooting of the Knicks that proved to be the story of the first quarter though, especially that of stars Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis. The two forwards shot 9 of 17 from the field and helped the Knicks to a 31-27 lead.
The Celtics played fairly good defense in the first quarter, but the Knicks simply made shots. The Celtics, however, lacked the execution on the offensive side of the ball that had been so instrumental in their winning streak. Tough jumpers, lack of off-ball movement, and sub-par ball sharing were the norm, and a big reason the Celtics trailed for almost the entire first half.
The tempo of the game did not favor the Celtics either. The Knicks did their best to take the shot clock down on their possessions and prevent Boston from jumping out on fast breaks. Also, the referees did their part in slowing the game down by calling cheeky fouls on both teams throughout the game. The Celtics are at their best when they can get out and run, and the home team was largely unable to do so in the first 24 minutes.
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As the first half wore on, the Knicks continued to knock down contested three point shots, and the Celtics were forced to jump on the back of the smallest player on their roster. Isaiah Thomas seemed to be the only Celtic who could score consistently, and his team would have faced a much larger deficit if not for his offense. The Celtics went into the locker room down by five.
If recent success was to repeat itself on Friday, the Celtics would need a spark from someone or something in the third quarter. In the past few games it had been a single player like Evan Turner or Jae Crowder, but Brad Stevens was forced to take matters into his own hands against the hot shooting Knicks.
About halfway through the quarter, Stevens went with a very small lineup and his coaching move paid immediate dividends. The Celtics speed was able to stun the Knicks by running off of defensive rebounds and getting easy layups. The Celtics would eventually take a four point lead, but the Knicks weathered the storm. New York was able to counteract the Celtics speed with more success from the three point line, and built their lead to six going into the fourth quarter.
Much of the final period was the same story as the rest of the contest until Jared Sullinger was able to hit Jae Crowder on two perfect outlet passes for big dunks. The crowd erupted as the Celtics made a final push to get their 13th straight win at TD Garden. The final minutes saw a heavy increase in excitement, with multiple lead changes on difficult shots by both teams.
Evan Turner made a drive to the basket and finished a contested layup over Robin Lopez to take the lead in the last minute. Carmelo Anthony then nailed a short jumper and the Celtics trailed by a single point with 21 seconds to go. Brad Stevens proved his coaching mettle yet again as he drew up a play using Isaiah Thomas as a decoy, and Avery Bradley took advantage. Bradley took the inbound pass, drove to his right, and powered through defenders on the way to a strong layup for the Celtics lead. On the Knicks final possession, Carmelo Anthony was the only New York player to touch the ball, and missed a game winning 27 footer as time expired.
The Celtics proved Friday night that they can win games when the energy is not as high as coach Stevens would like. This mentle toughness will surely be useful down the stretch and against teams with nothing to lose like the Knicks. The mark of a great team is in its ability to win different types of games, and the Celtics showed that ability on Friday night.
The Celtics were led yet again by Isaiah Thomas’ 32 points and eight assists. Evan Turner and Jae Crowder added 21 and 20 points, respectively, but it was Avery Bradley who proved to be the hero with his nine points and huge layup in the waning seconds.
Carmelo Anthony paced the Knicks with 30 points, and rookie Arron Afflalo added 17. Robin Lopez also recorded a double double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Next: Isaiah Thomas Is A Franchise Player
The Celtics face a tough road test tomorrow night in a huge game against Lebron James and the Eastern Conference leading Cleveland Cavaliers. Tip off is scheduled for 7PM EST at Quicken Loans Arena.