The Knicks trimmed a 27-point lead to 4 in the fourth quarter, but when the dust settled, they fell to 0-7 vs the NBA’s elite.
Well, it’s Groundhog Day… again.
In a Sunday matinee, the Knicks played the Celtics. The Celtics barraged the Knicks early and jumped out to a massive lead. The Knicks made a push, but was countered by a similar barrage that put the game away for Boston and made it look lopsided.
Does this sound familiar? We did this in the Garden earlier this month. If you delete most of that last sentence, we did this in October, as well.
The anticipation for this game was probably the lowest for any game the Knicks have played in a while. Coming off of a 37-point evisceration in Cleveland (their largest loss since Fizdale roamed the sidelines), the Knicks had to go to TD Garden to play a Celtics team that had lapped them twice already this season. While the previous meetings vs contenders had excitement entering with hopes of a season-defining win, today’s result was kinda expected.
As Muruju put it in the game thread, “this is an interesting season.”
The Knicks are now 0-7 against the three teams in the NBA with a winning percentage north of .700. As embarrassing as it sounds, this game, one in which they trailed by 27 in the third quarter, was the third most competitive of the seven.
In the season opener in Beantown, the Knicks were crushed under an avalanche of 3-pointers. If not for a comedic finish, the all-time 3s record would’ve been set.
Also in October, the Knicks played a competitive game with a Cavaliers team that was not yet considered the cream of the crop. After taking a double-digit lead in the third quarter, the Knicks’ new core struggled to gel and Cleveland stormed back behind 34 from Darius Garland in a game where KAT fouled out.
In January, the Knicks took a double-digit lead into halftime against the OKC Thunder, only for it to collapse behind terrible perimeter defense in the second half.
Later that month, OKC destroyed the Knicks from the opening tip in MSG while I was flying home from my trip to the Orange Bowl.
Earlier this month, with OG out, the Celtics’ offense erupted in MSG behind Jayson Tatum’s 40 in another blowout.
And lastly, on Friday, the Knicks struggled mightily in a rematch with a very confident and motivated Cavs team. The less said, the better.
It’s so odd. The Knicks are so, so far behind the top 3. This is the best Knicks team in the new millennium (not counting last January), but this is the least competitive they’ve ever been against the big dogs. Remember when a plucky underdog Knicks team walked into Boston and won in double overtime two years ago without Brunson?
Alright, enough about the past. Let’s talk about this game.
First Quarter
Good news: The Knicks led in this game. They didn’t last time these two met.
Bad news: It was for 21 seconds.
First off, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby both played. This meant we didn’t have 40 minutes of Precious Achiuwa spacing. It didn’t matter.
After Anunoby made a 3 to take a 3-2 lead and Kristaps Porzingis (playing NYK for the first time this season) responded with his own, the Celtics never looked back. It was 13-3 in an eyeblink.
The story of the first quarter wasn’t a barrage of triples, but bad Knicks offense into transition Celtics offense. On a notable sequence, Brunson, guarded by Jrue Holiday, bricked a 3. Holiday then sprinted down the floor and caught an outlet pass for a wide open layup. This happened several times.
After one, the Celtics led 38-19. The Knicks shot 31% and went 2-for-9 from 3. Ouch.
Second Quarter
More of the same.
Cameron Payne went on a signature heater to open the quarter, cutting the lead to 14 on a personal 7-2 run. Boston only scored two points in the first 3:36 of the quarter, but the Knicks couldn’t make a serious dent. Landry Shamet came off the bench and hit a pair of threes. The closest NYK got was eleven before Jayson Tatum came back in and did Jayson Tatum things.
An issue that arose in the second and continued was the size disparity. Even while healthy, the Knicks are very small. Boston played most of the game with two of their three seven-footers (Porzingis, Al Horford, OAKAAK Luke Kornet) on the court. The Knicks have one guy taller than 6’8” healthy. Boston had five offensive rebounds in the quarter.
The Knicks’ offense was stuck in neutral, but had a chance to go into half down by just 16.
KAT missed two bunnies at the rim and then got caught in drop coverage. Jayson Tatum then pushed the lead to 21. Down 64-43 into the break.
TATUM'S REACTION AFTER THIS 3 😤😤 pic.twitter.com/7sAaAzN0A3
— NBA (@NBA) February 23, 2025
Third Quarter
The start of the quarter was pretty typical.
After cutting it to 16, the Jays took over for Boston and grilled the Knicks to a 13-2 run. The lead had ballooned to 27. It was an absolute asskicking.
However, just like last meeting, the Knicks found something in the third quarter.
Led by KAT figuring it out and a typical Brunson takeover, the Knicks slowly crept closer. The All-Star duo combined for just 12 in the first half but had 29 in the quarter.
Boston’s offense stalled due to improved effort defensively, although they also missed some open ones. When Towns converted a layup with 2:35 to go in the quarter, the lead was single digits. Joe Mazzulla was very late on calling a timeout during this run, opting to let his guys figure it out.
Boston appeared to punch back several times. A Payton Pritchard three and Kornet alley-oop tried to stunt the momentum, but an and-1 by Hart and back-to-back Brunson triples cut the lead to seven. A 32-12 run to end the quarter. The promise of the Knicks’ offense showed, shooting 60% from the field and 6-for-9 from 3.
Fourth Quarter
The momentum shockingly continued into the fourth. After a McBride block, Towns sank a triple to cut the lead to four with eleven minutes to go.
denial by deuce then perfect aim for KAT ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/Vx4HdGqJEv
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 23, 2025
However, on the very next possession, the momentum permanently shifted back with this one play:
Derrick White is an unbelievable nuisance. This is a great defensive possession by the Knicks (especialy Hart and Anunoby) that ends in a contested White 3 on the wing. White is 15-for-23 from 3 against the Knicks this season and honestly, that feels low. Just jarring how much of a pest he is.
Although the Knicks responded with a bucket, this White 3 was the end of the emphatic comeback. When you play Boston, you can’t expect them to go from destroying you to laying down and dying. It’s always a matter of time before this uber-talented team figures it out and that is what happened.
Another White 3 pushed it to 8. After a Bridges layup, Boston pulled away.
Holiday layup, Porzingis alley-oop, Brown fastbreak layup, Brown putback layup, Brown fastbreak layup.
When the dust cleared, Boston was up 16.
After all of that, Boston was up 16.
A scary moment came during that run, as Karl-Anthony Towns came up gimpy after trying to poster the ex-Knick Porzingis. He would return to the game.
Kristaps Porzingis throws down the alley-oop on one end, then stuffs KAT's dunk attempt on the other pic.twitter.com/tVIUyCUOP4
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) February 23, 2025
Yet another Derrick White three pushed the lead to 21 in the final two minutes. An 8-0 run by Mikal Bridges made it the final score.
A frantic 35-12 run by the Knicks over nine minutes got them back into the game. Unfortunately, over the other 39 minutes, they were outscored 106-70.
Notable Numbers
KAT’s first two meetings combined against Boston: 21 points and 16 rebounds on 8-for-17 FG and 3-for-4 from 3.
KAT today: 24 points and 18 rebounds on 9-for-20 FG and 3-for-4 3PT
His defense was just as terrible, but he was better overall offensively. After a dreadful start (just like vs Chicago), he finished only -1 and went 7-for-11 in the second half.
Boston attempted 61 threes in the first meeting, but have only attempted 39 and 44 in the two since. Their 38.6 3pt% today was their worst against the Knicks this season.
Josh Hart missed two games with runner’s knee. He responds with 20-11-9 in 40 minutes.
Mikal Bridges was a team-worst -22. He had six points in the first 46 game minutes. He had one rebound and no assists. No bueno.
An overall bad game for Deuce McBride (2 points on 1-7 FG in 27 minutes) but when he subbed in for Bridges with the starters, the Knicks thrived:
- In 12 minutes today, the four-man lineup of Brunson-McBride-Hart-Anunoby had a +14.3 net rating.
- In 134 minutes prior to this game, that lineup has a +12.8 net rating.
- The top three and seven of the top ten lineups with 100+ minutes for the Knicks involve Deuce McBride.
Up Next
The Knicks get a small reprieve with a pair of days off before they square off with the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden on the 26th. Joel Embiid’s status is murky, as always. Could Mitchell Robinson return? Find out Wednesday at 7:00 PM on ESPN.
