The Celtics put together one of their best wins of the season on Saturday night against the Hawks. Meanwhile, one of their biggest rivals showed more concerning signs amid a freefall down the Eastern Conference standings.
The Knicks dropped their third straight game to the Suns at Madison Square Garden, earning boos from a frustrated crowd after losing eight of their last 10 games overall. New York is playing without star guard Jalen Brunson (ankle) for the past two games but their problems date back far beyond his injury at this point.
“You don’t ever want to have boos but at the end of the day, the fans here are passionate,” Knicks coach Mike Brown told reporters in New York Saturday night. “You respect and embrace their passion but it hurts. It hurts the staff, it hurts the players. We’re not trying to lose, our guys played hard. I take my hat off to them for that.
“The fans have, in my opinion, every right to boo or to cheer or do whatever they want. They pay their hard-earned money to come to the games and this is entertainment for them, so you’ve got to respect that.”
The Knicks’ swoon has given the Celtics a unique opportunity even as they hit their own bump in the road last week (dropping three of four). Since then, Boston has bounced back with two straight wins and after Monday’s showdown against the Pistons, the Celtics will face eight straight sub .500 opponents before the trade deadline.
Boston currently holds a 1.5 game lead over the Knicks for the No. 2 seed in the East and could grow that advantage considerably in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline. Boston has taken care of business against sub .500 opponents all year long and could position themselves to be in a great spot to secure homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference for the first round and potentially beyond if they sustain this level of play.
Joe Mazzulla insisted on that as a focus after Saturday’s win over the Hawks.
“It’s that time of year we just have to get better,” Mazzulla said. “So whether you win or lose, the next day’s film session is the most important day, and we have to have a clear understanding of where we’re at, the things that we have to do to become a better team. So credit to those guys, starting with Jaylen, they have that mentality, and that’s the goal tomorrow. We land, we go to film, and we gotta get better.”
With a Jayson Tatum return looming and the possibility of more reinforcements at the trade deadline, the Celtics couldn’t ask for a better spot at the halfway spot of the year. With other key contenders in the East floundering, Boston is in a great position to take advantage over the rest of January.