POST GAME NY KNICK'S - AWAY

Celtics Wrap: Boston Wins Third Straight, Beats Depleted Knicks 113-99

NESN by Logan Mullen on Fri, Feb 1, 2019 at 9:49PM

Lots of folks are dreaming about what the New York Knicks can become this offseason, but in the meantime they aren’t very good.

However, the Celtics had their hands somewhat full for a majority of their 113-99 win over a depleted New York team Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

Kyrie Irving led the Celtics with 23 points, adding six assists and nine rebounds. Marcus Morris (18 points), Gordon Hayward (14), Al Horford (14), Jayson Tatum (13) and Jaylen Brown (11) also tallied double figures for Boston.

Damyean Dotson had a team-high 22 points and was one of three Knicks in double figures. In addition to injuries to Frank Ntilikina and Emmanuel Mudiay, players acquired in the Kristaps Porzingis trade were unavailable for the Knicks, so they had pretty limited resources.

With the win, the Celtics climb to 33-19, while the Knicks fall to 10-41 with the loss. Since the Indiana Pacers will idle Friday, Boston now owns fourth place in the Eastern Conference with the victory.

Here’s how it all went down.

STARTING FIVE
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Marcus Morris Sr.
C: Al Horford

C’S TAKE FIRST
After falling behind early, the C’s used 8-0 runs near the midway and at the end point of the quarter to get back into the game and ultimately finish the first 12 minutes ahead 25-20.

The Knicks jumped out to a nine-point lead within the first four minutes of the game, but at the 5:57 mark the Celtics had gone ahead. The two sides traded chances the remainder of the frame.

It wasn’t exactly a display of offensive excellence, as the Celtics shot 41.4 percent from the field (12-for-29) in the first 12 minutes, at one point missing six straight field goals. Irving and Tatum both scored a game-high six point in the opening stanza.

BOSTON CREATES ROOM
The Celtics started to show a bit more energy in the second, outscoring the Knicks 31-27 to head into the break up 56-47.

Boston allowed New York to hang around, with the two sides exchanging the lead four times and sharing it twice more during the second. But the Celtics used a 10-0 run over 2:47 to up their advantage to 10 with 3:37 left, ultimately outscoring the Knicks 19-10 over the final 5:14 of the frame.

The second quarter also featured this pretty connection between Terry Rozier and Hayward.

Irving and Tatum led all players with seven second-quarter points and 13 first-half points each.

KNICKS STAY ALIVE
Leading by as many as 14 at one point, the Celtics couldn’t put the Knicks away in the third quarter. The Celtics were outscored 26-24 in the frame, but went into the final period up 80-73.

The Knicks cut lead to five at the two minute mark, but the C’s responded by putting together a couple quality possessions to keep their lead somewhat safe.

Most notable in the third quarter was when Knicks fans started unleashing a “We want Kyrie” chant.

Horford led all players with 10 points in the third.

C’S CLOSE DOOR
Despite struggling to create much of a cushion most of the night, the Celtics finally built up their lead in the fourth to close the door. And though things got a little interesting down the stretch, the C’s outscored the Knicks 33-26 in the final 12 minutes to close the door.

It didn’t take long for the Celtics to get on track once the fourth quarter commenced, opening the first 3:47 on an 11-4 run to swell their lead to 14 and force Knicks head coach David Fizdale into a timeout.

The Celtics responded to the stoppage by getting their lead up to 21, but the Knicks still had some fight left in them, cutting the deficit to as few as 10 with 3:32 left.

That was as close as they’d get though, as the Celtics retook control the rest of the way.

PLAY OF THE GAME
Wizardry.

UP NEXT
The Celtics will return to Boston for a tilt with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. Tip-off from TD Garden is set for 2 p.m. ET.

112288

Should have put these bums away bigly.  Sorry, but I'm not impressed when we beat the worst freaking team in the league by only 14 points when they are starting Noah Vonleh at center, our 2-way player Kadeem Allen at point guard and their high scoring guard just got traded.  This should have been 30+, not 14.  Nope, not impressed.

Hayward with a SG (Solid Gordon) game.  14 points on only 8 fgas is very nice.  2 blocks.  If he can block shots then how come he can't explode of those feet?  He's actually blocking as many shots/minute as he was when he was 4 years ago.

Tatum, Morris and Brown all with solid games.  Tatum and Morris' shots are dropping again.  Jaylen needs to lay off the 3s.  He is just SO much better when he attacks than when he just launches from downtown.

Knicks fans were chanting "We want Irving!" last night.  When you are the worst team in the NBA you pretty much want anybody who doesn't stink.  Why would Kyrie go there?  There's talk about the Knicks going after Irving AND Durant in the off-season.  Why would those two players leave where they are, where they are either winning rings and making max money or are on a team that could compete for a ring and will make max money, and go to a perennial James Dolan septic tank fire?

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071444






bob



.

Bob,

You are the voice of reason on this board and I am glad you said that about putting the worst team away big time.

This is beginning to worry me.  Is it that they do not really have the horses to get over the finish line this year, or are they cocky and think they can coast against lousy teams.

112288

There was a lot of extra distractions going on in NY last night.

This was a trap game but Boston refused to fall into the trap. Boston pretty much adjusted the hot water knob whenever they needed to.

And there was some good things going on. Mostly GH had a little pep in his step. The fact that he is able to play at this level is really a positive sign. It actually proves that he can still play well. He has 30 games left before the playoff season to develop some consistency. The Celtics do not need Gordon to be great they just need him to play consistency well.

The Celtics moved into 4th place and are now just one game behind the Sixers for 3rd. The Celtics are not going to quit on us.

Hi,
In regard to putting the game out and blowing NYK out of the water, I think Celtics were playing at about 70-80%.
I'm more concerned about Smart - is he injured and how serious?

AK

Toronto is not that far away, we have not been clicking on all cylinders, but the team is playing better and we can still play much better. Al is showing a lot of life, let’s keep limiting his minutes and play him more in the big games. Kyrie was just normal great, he looked like Kyrie, 2 J’s had their moments. Like the way we are rounding into form, we just won 8 out of 9, let’s keep it going....

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
In regard to putting the game out and blowing NYK out of the water, I think Celtics were playing at about 70-80%.
I'm more concerned about Smart - is he injured and how serious?

AK

I wouldn't be surprised if Smart misses a game or two. He got one leg tangled up with another player's leg, which kind of turned him into a wishbone. He kept playing, but once he cooled off it may have started to swell or stiffen up.

gyso wrote:

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
In regard to putting the game out and blowing NYK out of the water, I think Celtics were playing at about 70-80%.
I'm more concerned about Smart - is he injured and how serious?

AK

I wouldn't be surprised if Smart misses a game or two.  He got one leg tangled up with another player's leg, which kind of turned him into a wishbone.  He kept playing, but once he cooled off it may have started to swell or stiffen up.

Agreed, we have depth, might as well use it and keep everyone fresh for playoffs.

I think that the flow of the game was more important than the final score against a poor team in last night's game against the Knicks.

The Cs had good control from beginning to end, lots of guys played and no one had to really over extend in minutes played. A 14 point win is solid win, and to get back up the standings all the Celtics have to do is stop flopping against any of the other lesser teams.