Knicks 121, Celtics 113: Foot on the throat
The Knicks are just one win away from the Eastern Conference finals
Last night Madison Square Garden, hosting its biggest basketball game in 26 years, witnessed rumors dying and realities being born as the New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics 121-113, taking a commanding 3-1 lead in their semifinal series. You’ll hear a lot of people saying no one thought this reality was possible, which isn’t true. Nobody thought it was likely. Almost no one thought it would happen. But it was always possible, so long as several unpredictable and/or unprecedented events occurred at once. And what is reality if not that? Are any two days the same?
The defending champs led almost the entirety of the first three quarters, behind a Jayson Tatum performance that was the greatest by any playoff opponent at the World’s Most Famous since Michael Jordan more than 30 years ago, before cruel fate and the human body’s limits saw the Celtic star leave the game with three minutes to go and the arena shortly after in a wheelchair. Tatum was on the verge of a 50-point night when he fell to the floor with a non-contact injury. As you’d imagine, there’s no such thing as a quiet 50, and def not with the stakes this high.
One of the Knicks’ biggest problems against the Celtics all season has been getting blown out early. In Game 2 Boston was up 11 after 12 minutes; in Game 3, 16. With two minutes to go in the opening frame last night the Knicks were up one, a promising position for a boxer fighting a knockout artist. These Knicks win these games with 12 rounds of jabs and body shots that wear the Cs down; trailing big forces them to open things up and that’s where the Celtics are at their (and everybody else’s) best. Boston looked to have gotten the fight back on their terms with a 13-2 run to close the first quarter, behind 11 points and three threes from Tatum. They held serve in the second and were up 11 at the half.
Believe it or not, that’s the second-closest the Knicks have been at the half all series. The optimist would note the game was still within reach. The pessimist points out if you’re down 11 at the break, you’re on pace to lose by 22. Neither’s an oracle, but both had good points. If the Knicks were going to win, something surprising had to happen. Several did, and that’s why the blue and orange are now one win away from hosting the conference finals for the first time since 1994.
MVP! MVP!
First, Jalen Brunson is the greatest offensive player in Knicks history. Nobody saw that coming when they signed him, but there’s no debating it. You’ve seen so many other teams enjoy that edge over the years: the Bulls with their bald GOAT; the Lakers with his wanna-be; the Heat with their balding GOAT; the Warriors and Steph. Some guys are at a level where it literally does not matter who you put on them, how aggressively you try and deny them the ball, what the scenario is – they always have an answer.
Knicks teams of the past didn’t. Patrick Ewing outplayed Michael Jordan in big playoff games, but couldn’t over a whole series. Carmelo Anthony’s the only reason this franchise didn’t put up a playoff goose egg from 2001-2022, but he was more likely to average 10 assists for a season than outplay LeBron James in a series. I can take this as far back as you like: during Bernard King’s famous 1984 ascension unto godhood, Larry Bird played (slightly) fewer minutes than King, outscored him, shot better and had more than twice as many rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. This is a long-standing reality: however good New York’s big dog is, the other one’s bigger. Tatum’s got eight inches on Brunson. Ask Joel Embiid how much that matters.
The captain exploded for 18 in the third, a mélange of midrange mastery, paint raids and raining hellfire from deep. It was the Knicks’ biggest quarter of the season, with the five starters all playing all 12 minutes, and it ended with them holding their first lead entering the fourth of the series. I have watched a lot of incredible players for this franchise over the years. The only one I’ve ever seen whose existence kept me cool and faithful throughout was #11. Logic, consensus and a whole lotta numbers all pointed to this series being over before it began, with Boston moving on to the ECF and New York to a summer of existential angst. But in that equation will is a variable, and nobody’s been able to confine Brunson’s to a fixed number.
Non-Jalen Brunsons
Karl-Anthony Towns? Goofy. Soft. Can they trade him for Giannis?
Mikal Bridges? Too passive, too pedestrian. Donte’s better.
OG Anunoby’s never healthy when it counts and is at best the third-best wing in this matchup, and well behind #1 and #2.
Mitchell Robinson can’t, either, and such a liability at the line you can’t play him in big spots, while Miles McBride’s a one-trick pony who’s run out of racetrack.
Perceptions, meet realities:
I don’t know how much of KAT’s cratered 3-point game (only one made three all series on 10 attempts) is due to the Celtic defense and how much is due to the Knicks maybe wanting him working down low more in this series, but even without it he’s averaging about 20 and 14 while making 60% of his 2-point shots and 95% of his free throws (remove Brunson and Towns has almost as many free throws this series as the rest of the Knicks combined), all of which he’s doing with a left hand that may be fractured and is certainly hurting him. If Towns were already established as a revered player in the league, this series would be augmenting that legacy.
Bridges has been the best player in the fourth quarter of two of the Knicks’ three wins this round; his 10 in the final frame last night canceled out Tatum’s points and were especially critical coming when Brunson sat for a few necessary minutes to open the quarter. The second half was the most important 24 minutes of the season for both teams, and while both went with their mainstays, only Bridges and Derrick White played all 24 minutes. Bridges is the kind of player who expands to meet the biggest moments. He certainly has in these playoffs.
Late in the first quarter, Anunoby left the game after grabbing at his left hamstring. Knick fans could be forgiven for flashing back to just about a year ago exactly, when OG’s hamstring cost him most of the second-round against Indiana. Most of us believe if he’d stayed healthy, the Knicks would have advanced to the conference finals against the Celtics. Last night OG stayed healthy, played nearly the whole half and is as big a reason as any why the Knicks can advance to this year’s conference finals instead of the Celtics. Tatum shot 13-of-18 against the other four Knick starters; against OG, he went 3-of-7. After sinking this corner three late in the third to give the Knicks the lead, Anunoby made all four of his fourth-quarter shots to push his team to the win and the brink of history.
For most of the decisive fourth quarter, Mitch and McBride, the two longest-tenured Knicks, were in the middle of the deciding. They didn’t do much offensively, just an alley-oop Robinson converted off a Towns’ drive and Deuce missed a three. But the only number that ultimately matters is the scoreboard, and Mitch and Miles were +7 and +6 in the period that sealed the deal. All series the Celtics have attacked Towns and Brunson as their go-to offense. Last night they didn’t get the chance to, a big reason the Knicks are up instead of tied.
Tom Thibodeau deserves his flowers
The Knicks were only going to win this game and this series if they changed their approach from the regular season. Something — some things — had to flip for the results to, too. Betting on Thibs to change his stripes is no way to go through life, but that doesn’t mean it never happens. In this series and last night in particular, there were a number of unusual and promising sightings that suggest there’s more to the Knicks’ head man that meets the eye.
The Knicks were much quicker and more deliberate getting into their offense. Whether after a Celtic make or miss, there was an unmistakable urgency to their actions earlier in the shot clock. That’s critical against a team that honestly really just doesn’t have a single defender to exploit. There are no weak spots to pick at, so you have to find whatever the best options are before they disappear. The Knicks shot 66% inside the arc, and that’s how they won: Boston was +10 from the free throw line and +18 behind the arc, the Knicks +36 inside it. Jabs and body blows, all night long.
While Joe Mazzulla has definitely had some success intentionally fouling Mitch, Thibs was able to use that aggression against him to help win Game 2. Last night, the Knicks found an entirely new solution to the problem, whether they meant it or not: the Knicks did a great job of not drawing fouls. By not being in the bonus like they usually are, there was no threat of the Cs using the Hack-A-Mitch strategy. That left Robinson free to just be himself, and as the Cavaliers learned a couple of years ago, you can have bigger names with bigger paychecks in your frontcourt but that doesn’t mean you have anyone better. The Knick bigs have been better this series than the Celtic bigs. Full stop.
Maybe the biggest surprise of the series has been something I haven’t seen from the Knicks since I first started watching them. I used to joke to myself in very dark moments that it explained Thibodeau’s seemingly inexplicable minutes distribution, when New York’s starting five became just the 10th team in NBA history to have five players average 35-plus minutes a game. But with how last year’s playoffs ended, especially, I didn’t seriously consider it a possibility. Now I wonder.
The ‘90s Knicks were famous at the time for their conditioning. Against everybody, even the Bulls, the Pat Riley Knicks just ground teams down to dust over 48 minutes, and it became a Garden tradition in those playoffs to watch the league’s best teams and biggest scorers wilt in the late stages. These Knicks have won the second halves of all four games of this series. Wanna discount Game 3 ‘cuz it was never really close? That just makes the point even more dramatically: in the Knicks’ three wins, they’ve outscored the Celtics 183-135 in those halves. That’s a 16-point turnaround per half. You don’t need the numbers to know how big that is. You’re seeing it unfold.
The Celtics haven’t given the Knicks anything. The Knicks have taken it. You see it in the late-and-close stages the clearest: this team expects to win these games. Not just about the Celtics, against everybody. They’re playing the best team in the world, they think they’re better than them and four games in they’re on the verge of proving it.
I’m not getting ahead of myself. The Celtics are proud. They’re going to want to win for their fans and their fallen leader. This is still a team chock full of mostly high-IQ players who all defend and make threes. I can see the Knicks winning Wednesday comfortably. I can see the Celtics blowing them out and being up 78-69 after the third quarter Friday in New York. The champs are going to throw out all the stops. They can’t win the way they have throughout this season, but they can certainly slow the game down and try a different tactic. I don’t know what happens – are any two days the same? But I know these Knicks will be ready.
