Knicks 108, Celtics 105 (OT): DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN!
Layup-line Mikal Bridges is these Boston Celtics’ worst nightmare
They say you don’t know the good old days until they’re gone. As a New York Knicks fan who just watched them pull off a come-from-behind overtime road win against the Boston Celtics in Game 1, I call bullshit. These are the best days.
A back-and-forth feeler of a first quarter gave us hope. Boston’s counterpunch (and knockout blow, at first glance) of a second quarter washed it all away. At halftime the scoreboard read 61-45, bad guys, and I toyed with turning off my television. I’m really fucking glad I didn’t. New York proceeded to go on a pair of runs – first 12-3, later 31-10 – to put Boston on their butts, centerstage, in their arena, in overtime and in a series most talking heads predicted to go no more than five games. Now that’s a statement.
Jalen Brunson performed to his standards – 20 points between the third and fourth quarters – landing all the clutch shots that command the kind of respect that’s more synonymous with sustained disbelief. But for a win over Boston, in Boston, the Knicks needed more.
That’s the storyline from this one. For better or worse, this series was always going to be about the Knicks’ acquisitions of Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns. New York faithful were told that this team was built to contend with the Celtics, through whom the East sits square, and for the first time since its inception this team did just that. Bridges and OG Anunoby were the defensive pair envisioned by Leon Rose and company, and despite a poor first three quarters Towns played the role of offensive conductor and connector down the stretch. Add in the best of Josh Hart’s “Oh no! Oh no! Oh yes!” play, plus some stellar defense from Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson, and you’ve got the story, at least on paper. Sometimes when you pay high, you get what you pay for.
Notes
I think Bridges is the most polarizing Knicks I’ve had the privilege of watching over a full season. When he’s firing on all cylinders on both ends, he looks like a one-of-one talent. The less optimized version is more Elfrid Payton with better any 3-point shooting. Bridges wasn’t the anomalous assassin from midrange Monday, nor was he a 3-point specialist. But he was the better half of a defensive duo tasked with stopping one of the better pairs in pro sports. To go for the steal with three seconds left in overtime is the kind of heat check few shooters have ever known. Bridges ripped the ball out of Jaylen Brown’s hands before his eyes glanced over the goal. He’s giving up nearly 15 pounds in any matchup with Brown, and it looks like more. Not on that play. Not for this game.
In an effort to not get too caught up in the moment, let me be clear: New York is going to need Bridges on offense, too. At least I think they will. Bridges averaged just 13.8 points in the regular-season series with the Celtics, all while never attempting a free throw. Both of those stats will need to change, and his defense can’t afford to miss a beat. Bridges has been the brunt of so many grudges this season. Who else in the NBA has faced a tougher hand? To see him deliver, this time on the postseason platform, was increasingly rewarding. I’m proud of this man like a son. He’s five days younger than me. We talk a lot about Julius Randle in relation to Towns because they were traded for each other. But the poise with which Bridges has carried himself all season is one to be admired. We haven’t always had it so good with underperforming stars.
You’d be hard pressed to find an even casual sports fan who isn’t aware of the gravity of the Knicks’ win in Game 1. And for once, New York flashed a similar self-awareness on Monday night, abnormal only in the actions that coincided: Tom Thibodeau’s adjustments, Bridges’ defensive reads, etc. We’ve heard these Knicks talk the talk. Walking it has already gotten them further than four games of resting on their laurels ever dared.
Prior to the series starting I considered writing about the problem with potential, and how it correlates with this 2024-25 Knicks season. I decided to wait and see how they laced up against Boston to gather more data – how would they look against the Celtics when it matters most? Maybe the Knicks are discovering the power of potential in real time. Because with potential comes expectations, an incessant thronging of intentionally assuring yet actually condescending evaluations reminding us what we should be capable of. To undermine those is to live in a glass that feels half-empty, but to overwhelm them amidst adversity is to sit atop the water in your glass half-full, comfortably, relaxed like a summer’s day lounging in the pool in the backyard.
It’s not house money, nor is it a strict edict to follow. It’s somewhere in-between. That’s where New York has found themselves this season. And for the first time all year, it doesn’t feel like such a bad thing.