The Knicks have won six straight games, including before the All-Star break, after their 109-94 win against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
Here are the takeaways…
– For much of the first quarter, the Knicks struggled to get going offensively, scoring just 10 points in the first seven minutes of action with eight of those points coming from Julius Randle. Thankfully for them, the Celtics were equally as bad as Jayson Tatum could not make a basket, missing his first four shot attempts.
– New York’s offense picked up in the latter half of the quarter, though, as Randle and Jalen Brunson combined for 19 points. Mitchell Robinson and Immanuel Quickley added four points each. RJ Barrett was noticeably held scoreless in the quarter as he started 0-for-4 from the field.
– The Knicks stymied Tatum early and often as the NBA-leading scorer appeared frustrated and out of sorts. Robinson even blocked him as he drove to the rim looking for a slam. He finished the quarter with two points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field (0-for-3 from deep).
– Tatum’s shooting woes extended to his entire team as the Celtics went 1-for-12 from three-point range in the first quarter and just 7-for-21 from the field to finish with a season-low 15 points in the first quarter as New York led 27-15 after one.
– After trading baskets to start the second quarter, the Knicks went on a 10-2 run that gave them a 49-29 lead. Boston followed that up with a 12-0 run of their own to make it an eight-point game at 49-41, the closest the game had been in a while.
– Still without a point, Barrett ended New York’s scoring drought with an alley-oop pass to Robinson who slammed it home. After the Celtics failed to score on the other end, Barrett drained a corner three for his made basket of the night before scoring the Knicks’ next five points, erupting at just the right time.
He finished the half with eight points.
– Boston continued to struggle mightily from deep, ending the half shooting 11 percent (2-for-19) from three. On the other hand, New York shot 43 percent (6-of-14) from downtown and owned a 60-46 lead at halftime.
– The threes began falling for the Celtics in the third quarter but it didn’t seem to matter as the Knicks had an answer on the other end seemingly every time. Quentin Grimes got involved with a three-pointer with 7:54 left in the quarter while Randle continued to drill shots.
– With Tatum basically a non-factor offensively, Malcolm Brogdon tried his best to will his team to a comeback scoring nine straight points for the Celtics. Again, it wasn’t enough as Quickley answered with two triples, the second giving New York a 15-point cushion with 2:14 left and after three quarters, the Knicks led 88-75.
– Leading the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics by 13 points in the fourth quarter, New York clamped down defensively and hit shots when it needed to.
– The Knicks held Tatum, who was eventually ejected from the game, to one point in the fourth quarter, never allowing him to get settled after his rough start to the match.
– Meanwhile, it was New York’s supporting cast that got the job done as Quickley, Robinson, Obi Toppin and Josh Hart accounted for 18 of the Knicks’ 21 points scored in the final frame.
– Quickley finished with 23 points, tied with Randle for the game-high, and New York took it to Boston, who was without Jaylen Brown, winning 109-94 to extend its winning streak to six games.
– With the win, the Knicks move up to the fifth seed in the East while the Celtics fall to the second seed, 0.5 game back of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks close out their three-game homestand against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. in a battle of the boroughs.
