Knicks 119, Celtics 81: Scenes from a beatdown to beat beantown

New York delivers their most dominant game of the year to beat Boston in six.

Embrace your darkness, Joe Maz. . . . Let its cold arms envelop you like a ghoulish shroud. . . . While you sink into the black depths of misery . . . OUR KNICKERBOCKERS ARE HEADED TO THE EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 25 YEARS. Shout about it, Knicks fans!!!

This was a smackdown from the starter’s gun. In the first half, New York outscored the Celtics by 27 points, limiting them to 37 points and harassing them into 4-of-19 shooting from deep. In the third quarter, New York pushed the lead to 41 and Jaylen Brown fouled out. In typical Thibs fashion, the starters stayed in longer than they should have in the fourth, but if anyone complained, who could hear it? The noise of the Garden was registering on the Richter scale. Final score: 119-81.

In a hyperactive first quarter, the Knicks opened with four straight points, Boston answered with five (all from Jaylen Brown), and New York followed with seven. The wings were hot early—OG Anunoby logged two blocks and a steal, and Mikal Bridges poured in seven points in the first five minutes.

Mitchell Robinson and Deuce McBride checked in at the 4:30 mark. Ten seconds later, Mitch was at the line—hack-a-Mitch persists. (He made one.)

Karl-Anthony Towns was a force, posting 11 points and four boards in the quarter. He capped a Knicks 10–4 run with a deep three. New York led 26–20 after one. The villains shot poorly (33% and 30%); our heroes shot worse (37% and 21%).

To open the second, the Knicks rattled off seven straight and Mitch blocked Brown at the arc, stretching the lead to 13. You gotta see it:

From there, the Knicks went full bully-ball—scrapping for loose balls, dominating the glass, and holding Boston to one-and-dones. For once, they looked determined to win the series. Deuce McBride soared to block Derrick White at the rim, the Celtics bricked a pile of threes, and Josh Hart rattled off five straight to help push the lead to 23 with under four minutes left. (McBride had 10 points and was a +20 in his 32 minutes off the bench.)

Cap splashed a three around the two-minute mark, Deuce turned an Anunoby steal into an and-one, and the lead ballooned to 27. It’s a strange feeling, being on the right side of a blowout. Next, Deuce knocked down a corner three to close the half with the Knicks up 64–37.

The Knicks had dominated behind 47% shooting and a 32–18 rebounding advantage. They doubled Boston’s points in the paint (32–18), led fast breaks 10–2, and committed fewer turnovers (8–11). The Celtics couldn’t find the rim, shooting just 33.3% from the field and 21.1% from deep.

OG opened the second half with six quick points to stretch the lead to 32. Bridges picked up his fourth foul and White hit back-to-back threes, but it didn’t matter—Bridges, Brunson, Hart, and KAT responded with an 11-0 run to push the lead to 37. Mikal would log 22 points, four boards, three assists, two blocks, and a steal in his 35 minutes.

From there, the Knicks kept their foot on the gas and dominated the glass. Brown fouled out with just under three minutes left in the quarter, and after KAT and Hart cleaned up more Celtics misses, Anunoby buried back-to-back threes to make it a 41-point game.

Cap would finish the night with 23 points, six rebounds and assists, and 8-of-14 shooting.

Entering the final frame of Boston’s season, the score was 92-57. Thibs still had the starters in. Our heroes eclipsed 100 points at the nine-minute mark. Still had the starters in. Josh Hart, simply ravenous for loose balls tonight, achieved a 10-11-11 triple-double with about eight minutes left. Boston called a timeout, down by 36 points. What changes did Thibs make? He sent Precious Achiuwa and Deuce in to play with KAT, Mikal, and OG. Towns wrapped up his evening with a 21-point, 12-board double-double in 35 minutes.

The crowd cheered for Knicks in Six. They cheered for PJ Tucker. They got what they wanted on both counts. With four minutes left, OG finally subbed out; PJ, Landry Shamet, and Cam Payne came in. When rookie Tyler Kolek swished a three-pointer with 30 seconds left, the series was truly, fully, completely over.

Nice tribute from the Garden faithful for OG—23 points, nine boards, two steals blocks, and assists, and 7-of-18 shooting in 37 minutes. He deserved every clap.

Up Next

The master scribe, Matthew Miranda, is sharpening his quills for a proper recap. Meanwhile, the Knicks will host the Indiana Pacers next Wednesday. In the Eastern Conference Finals. Rest up, you glorious Knickerbockers, you princes of New York, you kings of the five boroughs.

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