The New York Knicks are getting good at this.
The Knicks, just two days after mounting a 20-point comeback in the second half to stun the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, have done it again. They came back from the same deficit on Wednesday night, thanks to a huge fourth-quarter showing and a late block from Mikal Bridges, to grab a 91-90 win over the Celtics.
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That gave the Knicks a 2-0 lead in the series as it heads to Manhattan for Game 3 on Saturday afternoon. They are also now the first team in NBA playoff history to come back from 20 points down in consecutive games. By comparison, the Celtics blew just one 20-point lead throughout the entire regular season.
Celtics blow their lead again
The Celtics looked very solid for three quarters on Wednesday night. They opened the game on a 16-4 tear, held the Knicks scoreless for nearly five full minutes to start the game, and then took a 20-point lead in the third quarter. Everything was going their way.
But the Knicks, who also rallied out of a 20-point hole in Game 1 and grabbed an overtime win, went on a fourth-quarter run once again. They broke open a 21-4 run in the final period while the Celtics essentially shut down. Boston missed 12 straight shots and went more than eight minutes without a field goal.
Finally, Jayson Tatum ended their dry spell with about the easiest bucket he could have gotten. Tatum drove the length of the floor in a matter of seconds and threw down a dunk to put the Celtics up by a single point.
But on the other end, Jalen Brunson drew a foul on an elbow jumper and hit both free throws to lift the Knicks back on top. While the Celtics had one last look, Tatum couldn’t get a shot off. The Celtics, with a timeout available, tried to run a play but Bridges blocked Tatum in the corner at the buzzer to seal the one-point win and leave Boston fans in disbelief.
The reason they didn’t take their final timeout, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said, was that they felt they could just run the same play again and didn’t wan to let Brunson sub back out of the game.
“Had one [timeout] left, got a good look on the exact same play 20 seconds later,” Mazzulla said. “Tried to execute the exact same thing, they did a better job of their lower pick-up point and we weren’t able to get the advantage that we had on the last Tatum dunk … Brunson had action there, just didn’t execute.”
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Derrick White had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics in the loss. Jaylen Brown added 20 points, too, and Tatum finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds. The Celtics shot just 10-of-40 from the 3-point line. They had an NBA playoff record 45 missed 3-pointers in Game 1, too.
Josh Hart led the Knicks with 23 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points and 17 rebounds. Bridges scored all 14 of his points in the final period, and he added eight rebounds and five assists in the win for the Knicks.
Game 3 of the series is set for Saturday afternoon in New York. While the Knicks still have a ways to go actually reach the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000, they undoubtedly have the league’s defending champions up against the wall.
