By Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com
Game Two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals continues tonight with the No. 3 seed New York Knicks (51-31 in the regular season) visiting the No. 2 seed and defending NBA champion Boston Celtics (61-21 in the regular season) on TNT. Boston will look to even the series after a stunning 108-105 loss to New York in Game One on Monday night. The Knicks overcame a 20-point, third-quarter deficit to pull out the victory.
The outcome of Game One was unexpected when you consider Boston won all four regular season matchups against New York by an average of 16.3 points. Boston’s first two regular season victories against the Knicks were by 23 (132-109) and 27 points (131-104), respectively. The Celtics had also won eight out of the last nine against the Knicks prior to Monday night’s loss. Boston is a 10.5-point favorite, and the total is 210.5.
GAME ONE RECAP
Game One appeared to be heading down a similar path as recent Knicks-Celtics matchups as Boston was having their way with New York for 2.5 quarters. The Celtics ended the first half on a 13-3 run, which broke open the game and gave them a 16-point lead (61-45) at the intermission. Boston stretched the lead to a high of 20 points (72-52) after an Al Horford dunk with 6:11 remaining in the third quarter.
Everything fell apart quickly for Boston after building the 20-point, third-quarter lead. They proceeded to miss five straight three-pointers and eight of 10, which allowed the Knicks to reduce the deficit to 84-75 by the end of the third frame. Boston missed 19 of 20 three-pointers in the ill-fated third quarter alone. The atrocious shooting continued into the fourth quarter as Boston missed their first five shots, while New York scored the first 9 points of the quarter to pull within 84-83 at the 8:58 mark.
New York surged to a 97-91 lead with 3:28 left in the game behind the scoring exploits of Jalen Brunson, who scored 8 points over a 1:12 stretch of game time. Boston rallied to tie the game at 100 with 53.1 seconds left in regulation. Both teams were unable to score over remainder of regulation. Brunson and Jayson Tatum each missed a shot in the final seconds that could have won the game for their team.
New York outscored Boston 8-5 in overtime to pull off the improbable 108-105 comeback win. OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges were the stars of the overtime as they accounted for 6 of the Knicks 8 overtime points. Bridges also made the game-winning play on defense at the end of overtime, when he wrestled the ball away from Jaylen Brown before Brown could even an attempt a three-point shot as time expired.
Boston contributed to their own demise in the Game One loss as they shot an abysmal 15-for-60 (25%) on three-pointers. Boston’s 45 missed three-pointers set an NBA playoff record. The Celtics are sometimes criticized for their overreliance on shooting threes, and it came back to bite them — for one of the few times in recent years — in Monday’s loss to the Knicks. Boston is 15-3 over their last 18 postseason games, so their somewhat risky “live by the three, die by three” approach has been successful for them.
Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby scored 29 points apiece for the Knicks in the Game One win. Mikal Bridges stuffed the stat sheet with 8 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks, in addition to making the game-winning steal. Josh Hart (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Karl-Anthony Towns (14 points, 13 rebounds) each provided double-doubles in the win. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored 23 apiece for Boston in the loss. They combined to go 5-25 from three-point land.
Boston Celtics star center Kristaps Porzingis left Game One with an illness in the second quarter and did not return after halftime. He played 13 minutes, finishing with four rebounds and an assist. Porzingis has been upgraded to probable for tonight’s game against New York. The absence of Porzingis in the second half of Game One likely contributed to Boston’s epic collapse.
HOW BOTH TEAMS GOT HERE: NEW YORK
New York entered the season with huge expectations after making back-to-back trips to the Eastern Conference semifinals (second round) in 2023 and 2024 — behind the 2025 Clutch Player of the Year Jalen Brunson — and adding 29-year-old All-Star big man Karl-Anthony via trade from Minnesota in October prior to the season. The Knicks hoped adding Towns — the former No. 1 overall pick in 2015 — would allow them to challenge Boston for the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference, and strengthen their chances at making the NBA Finals.
Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns compiled tremendous individual seasons for the Knicks in 2024-25, both were selected as All-Star starters. They became the first Knick duo to start in the All-Star game since Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe in 1975. Unfortunately, the great play from Brunson and Towns did not catapult the Knicks into the upper-tier of the Eastern Conference, as they finished a distant third behind Boston and East-leading Cleveland (64-18) in the standings. New York did win 50 or more games for a second straight season. They only had one season with 50+ wins since the 1999-00 campaign.
The third-seeded Knicks knocked off a pesky Detroit Pistons squad 4-2 in the first-round of the playoffs. The Knicks were led by another sensational postseason performance from All-Star Jalen Brunson, who averaged 31.5 points, 8.2 assists, 4 rebounds and 2.5 threes, while shooting 43.6 from the floor in 6 games against the Pistons. He scored 30 or more points in five of the six games. Brunson also knocked down the game-winning, three-pointer with 4.1 seconds remaining in the series-clinching 116-113 victory at Detroit in Game 6 on May 1.
HOW BOTH TEAMS GOT HERE: BOSTON
Last season, the Boston Celtics completed one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history when they finished the regular season with a league-best 64-18 mark and breezed through the playoffs with a sparking 16-3 record. They were led by the All-Star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, along with an elite supporting cast that features a balanced mix of size, shooting and defense.
Boston finished with three fewer wins (61-21) this year as they were a bit inconsistent at home — they ended the season with a 28-13 record at home, versus 36-4 in 2023-24 — but still surpassed the 60-win mark for a second straight season. The Celtics ended the year with the third-best record in the NBA, and are still considered the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. Jayson Tatum was named an All-Star for the fifth straight season, while Jaylen Brown received an All-Star nod for the third straight season.
The second-seeded Celtics had no problems with seventh-seeded Orlando in the first round of the playoffs, as they dispatched of the young Magic 4-1 in the best-of-seven series. Jayson Tatum amassed averages of 31.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.5 steals, and 3 threes across 4 games against Orlando. He scored at least 35 points in three of the four games he played. Tatum missed Game Two against Orlando due to a right wrist injury, and Boston still picked up a somewhat comfortable 109-100 win without him, which is an indicator of their great depth and cohesion.
THE PICK: CELTICS (-10.5)
Boston missed a playoff-record 45 three-pointers in Game One, and still barely lost in overtime. I believe Game One’s disheartening loss will result in an inspired effort in Game Two. So expect a barrage of three-pointers (25 or more) from the Celtics tonight against the Knicks, who are probably content that they finally beat Celtics this season. Lay the Big Number and take the Celtics here
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