NY Knicks vs Boston Celtics in Eastern Conference semifinals: 3 things to know

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For a while now, the Knicks meeting the Boston Celtics in the playoffs seemed inevitable.

Now it’s a reality.

The third-seeded Knicks beat the No. 6 Detroit Pistons, 116-113, Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit to advance to play the second-seeded Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The series will begin on Monday at TD Garden in Boston.

The Celtics beat the No. 7 Magic in five games in their series to advance.

Here are three things to know about the series:

1. Tough opening night in Boston for Knicks

There was plenty of hype for the teams’ season opening meeting in Boston – especially from Knicks fans excited to see the new-look lineup with Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges.

Then it all came crashing down. Hard.

The Celtics shot an NBA-record tying 29 three-pointers in the eventual 132-109 win at TD Garden.

Jayson Tatum had 37 points for the Celtics.

That game turned out to be a sign of things to come.

2. Did Knicks beat Celtics at all during regular season? 

The teams met four times during the regular season. The Knicks didn’t win any of them.

All four were Celtics victories (it should be noted that one of those came when OG Anunoby, a defensive stopper, was unavailable for the Knicks).

Still, it wasn’t a great sign of what could be to come in the playoffs – although it’s a whole new season now.

3. Knicks to face former Knick Kristaps Porzingis

The Knicks will go up against Celtics forward Kristaps Porzingis, whom they traded away back in 2019 and has since become a target of the fans because of his complicated departure. He’ll hear plenty of boos from the MSG crowd.

Regardless, he’s had a solid season when he’s been healthy.

Porzingis was limited to 42 games during the regular season due to injury. He averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from three-point range on 6.0 attempts per game.

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