The Knicks (0-2) traveled to Boston to face the Celtics (1-1) at TD Garden tonight. Each team was fighting for their first win of the season, and clearly pride was on the line. Through the first half, the game teetered to and fro, but the home team gained momentum in the third quarter. After falling behind by 12 in the fourth, New York fought back to a one-point deficit, but, in what felt like a postseason game, Jayson Tatum went on a heater and carried his team to victory, 107-103.
What else is there to say about Mitchell Robinson (4 PTS, 4 RBS, 22 MIN) in a green jersey? It’s a bummer. We keep it moving. Mitch had a lackluster first outing with his new team and started mediocre tonight, too. He managed to put back his own miss over OG Anunoby (20 PTS, 10 RBS, 8 AST), but two fouls sat him after three minutes.
Tatum (36 PTS, 9 RBS, 7 AST) and Paul George (15 PTS, 7 RBS) got the C’s on the board to start, Karl-Anthony Towns (22 PTS, 10 RBS) and Jalen Brunson (19 PTS, 4 AST, 3 TO) scored, and we were off. Neither team impressed from deep, combining to make two of their first seven attempts, a trend that continued through the half. Unlike opening night, the whistles were fairly quiet, and the game had a better pace. The villains were pests on the glass, out-rebounding our heroes and turning five O-boards into five extra shots.
After trailing early, the guests used the free throw line to climb into the lead, and the score stayed closed from there. The ‘Bockers goosed their lead to five, and Boston clawed their way back. The bench contributed positive minutes yet again. Landry Shamet (8 PTS) checked in early to relieve a foul-carrying, blank-shooting Mikal Bridges. Also off the bench, Miles McBride (20 PTS, 6-of-8 3pt) took the floor around the six-minute mark. When he fired from the corner, TD Garden let loose a loud “Deeeuuuccceee” and were rewarded with a swish.
Late in the quarter, Anunoby was the only starter on the court, playing alongside Jose Alvarado, McBride, Shamet, and Andre Drummond. Twice we saw Alvarado wrestling a Celtic for the ball on the floor. His dogged defense helped to preserve a 27-26 lead a the break.
New York gave up five points to Luka Garza to start the second and Mike Brown needed a timeout before two minutes had passed. He replaced Andre Drummond with Karl-Anthony Towns. New York fell behind by eight before restoring their composure. At 7:30, Brunson returned to the fray and led Towns, Hart, and Jordan Clarkson led a comeback to tie the score, which was undone by buckets by Tatum and Neemiias Queta.
Robinson returned and continued to putter ineffectively for about six minutes. New Knicks reserve center, James Wiseman, made his season debut for New York with two minutes left in the half and promptly collected a loose ball foul. Fortunately, Josh Hart connected on his first triple of the night (after four tries) and followed that with an off-balance hook, but George knocked down a buzzer-beater for a 50-49 lead.
In the first half, the Knicks made just 30% from deep; Boston was a shade better at 35%. The orange-and-blue crew had taken 12 free throws to their opponent’s four, and each team had 21 boards at the break. In fact, the teams were nearly identical up and down the board. Towns topped all scorers with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Tatum had 11 points on 11 shots.
Anunoby was a bricklayer in the season opener (3-of-12 FG, 1-of-9 3PT), but his second dinger tonight, plus a cutting layup, got New York humming out of halftime. Jordan Walsh, Tatum, and Derrick White went on an 8-0 run before Brunson laced one from deep. In this game of runs, though, it seemed only a matter of time before one team hit the gas and began packing on a significant lead.
Weirdly, through two-and-a-half quarters, Queta was the only Celtic to take free throws—and just six at that. Clean defense so far by Gotham’s greatest!
Spoke too soon. Drummond gave Towns a breather at the five-minute mark and collected two infractions. After McBride picked off Queta and converted back-to-back treys, the Knicks trailed 70-69. Queta seemed hell-bent to prove his value as the Celtics’ center, hitting more free throws and a corner three to reach 12 points and pad his team’s lead. Shamet fouled on a screen, Drummond picked up a technical foul, Hart mishandled a Brunson pass, and the third frame ended with the Knicks down, 83-73.
Robinson punched back in to start the final period. He bodied Anunoby, blocked Towns, and slammed an alley-oop. The crowd went _Mitch Crazy_—and then the big fella committed foul number five. Back to the bench with eight-and-a-half to go. Many watching the Amazon Prime stream at home felt a shiver of déjà vu.
While the deficit reached 12, Bridges provided no offensive support. He shot 2-of-8 in the season opener and whiffed on all eight shots in Boston. He has yet to attempt a free throw this year. With production like that, we weren’t surprised when his night finished at 8:25. Meanwhile, McBride had netted 5-of-7 from deep for 23 points and counting with seven minutes remaining. That’ll bring up the team’s overall percentage!
KAT led the league with 56 double-doubles last season. With four minutes left, he grabbed his tenth board for his second double-double of the new campaign, flushed a Brunson miss, and brought the hole to three.
Hart was a shady shooter from downtown, missing five and making two—but that second one was clutch. Then KAT picked Queta’s pocket and Brunson pulled-up to make the score 99-98.
This might have been game two of the season, but it felt like Game 2 of the ECF. Tatum scored on back-to-back jumpers. OG made two freebies. The deficit was three when Tatum— who was on a heater—connected from deep with 30 seconds left. McBride hit his sixth triple at 14 seconds, but the Knicks were forced to foul and pray. Pritchard made one and missed one, and in the resulting fracas, George fouled Brunson. Cap missed a free throw with four seconds left, intentionally bricked the second, and OG missed a futile, final heave. Ballgame.
Quoth Good names all taken, “I took the over at 58. Still alive.” The season is young, the sky is not falling. After a short offseason and the usual rust, the Knicks have lost two close contests against playoff teams. Our heroes head home to host the O’Magic on Sunday, which should have a more favorable outcome. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.