With the playoffs on the horizon, the Boston Celtics are all but certain to finish as the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. But while their Tuesday night showdown on the road against the New York Knicks did not necessarily come with many practical stakes, they took the court at Madison Square Garden with a chance to put themselves in the history books. Riding an eight-game winning streak on the road, wins against the Knicks and the Orlando Magic on Tuesday and Wednesday night would tie the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors for the most road wins in a single season in NBA history. Though it came down to the final moments of overtime, the Celtics triumphed over the Knicks — recording a 4-0 season sweep over New York in the process — and kept themselves alive for a share of the record, winning 119-117.
Jayson Tatum was excellent from wire-to-wire tonight, scoring 32 points — including the three-pointer that sent the game to overtime — while grabbing seven rebounds, dishing five assists and recording two stocks. Kristaps Porzingis surged in the second half to add 34 points and eight made threes, but Jaylen Brown struggled to play through a knee injury, recording just six points on 2-of-8 shooting in 22 minutes played. For the Knicks, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 34 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while Jalen Brunson added 27 points and nine assists.
Towns has struggled in his matchups against the Celtics this season, but early in tonight’s matchup, that trend seemed to reverse. The Knicks went to their star center early and often, and he responded by connecting on a three-pointer and putting his stamp on the paint, compiling 12 points in the first quarter. Brunson added 10 points of his own, but the Celtics’ superior depth — and 11 from Tatum — helped keep the game close, and the Celtics trailed by just three points heading into the second quarter, 30-27.
Playing through a knee injury, the first half looked particularly rough for Brown. His mobility appeared to be somewhat limited, and he struggled on both ends in the early going. In the second quarter, he missed badly on consecutive three-pointers before plowing into a Knicks defender for an obvious charge, giving him more personal fouls (3) than points scored (2) in his first 12 minutes of game action. Each of those figures would each remain his totals entering the halftime break.
Upon his return to the game, Towns continued his barrage against the Boston defense. He pushed his game-leading point total to 22 in the first half of the night, and the New York lead pushed as high as 10 points as quarter wore on. The Celtics continued to battle, though, including a trio of made threes from Porzingis, who otherwise struggled in the early going this evening. Boston prevented the Knicks from pushing the game into blowout territory, and the teams entered halftime separated by just six points, with New York ahead 58-52.
The Celtics kicked off the third in assertive fashion, rattling off an 8-0 run in the first minute and a half to quickly reclaim the lead behind Porzingis’ fourth triple of the evening, prompting an early Tom Thibodeau timeout. The Latvian center was the tip of the spear for Boston’s resurgent effort, exploding for 13 points in the third quarter to take over the game lead in scoring. His effort helped the Celtics flip the entire script of the game, and after Tatum beat the buzzer with a fadeaway jumper, Boston entered the final frame with an 83-78 lead.
The Knicks did not intend to go quietly. In the early minutes of the fourth quarter, center Mitchell Robinson recorded an impressive block on Tatum in a one-on-one situation, which led to a triple from Cameron Payne on the other end. A couple possessions later, though, Robinson tripped over a fallen Celtics player and came up favoring his knee — a worrying sign for a Knicks team that values his defensive impact. Robinson departed the game and did not return.
With eight minutes remaining in regulation and the Celtics leading by six, Towns drove for a dunk but the attempt was stuffed by the rim. Porzingis was whistled for the foul on the play, prompting an immediate challenge from Joe Mazzulla. Upon review, the challenge was successful and the Celtics retained their timeout (though it was their last challenge of the night), but after a turnover by White, the Knicks cut the lead to three on a triple by Mikal Bridges. Tatum answered with a three of his own, but Towns returned with an and-one bucket, and Boston’s lead sat at three points with just under seven minutes to play in regulation.
The Celtics fended off New York for the next few minutes, but the Knicks ever so slightly clawed away at the lead. A midrange jumper from Brunson brought New York within one point of the lead, and a two from OG Anunoby on their next possession gave them the lead once again — a 10-2 Knicks run. White launched the ball out of bounds on the Celtics’ next offensive possession, and another Bridges jumper abruptly gave New York a three-point lead with just 50 seconds remaining in the game.
Towns gave the Celtics a jolt with a costly mistake, fouling Tatum behind the three-point line and granting him three free throw attempts and the chance to tie the game. Tatum converted only two of three, however, but with 35 seconds remaining, the game clock could theoretically give the Celtics the game’s final shot attempt. After a Thibodeau timeout, Hart converted a layup to put New York ahead by three with 11 seconds to play.
Then, it was time for Tatum. Needing a three-pointer, Mazzulla opted not to use one of his two remaining timeouts, and Tatum rewarded him by bringing the ball up court and drilling a clutch pull-up three to tie the game at 107 points apiece with three seconds remaining. New York’s Josh Hart was able to find a quality look on a pull-up three-pointer on the final possession of regulation, but the shot didn’t find the bottom of the net, and the game proceeded to overtime.
Overtime was a slugfest early on, with over a minute and a half passing before Sam Hauser recorded the extra period’s first points, a layup with 3:35 on the game clock. Tatum and Towns traded splits at the free throw line, each connecting on 1-of-2, before Towns tied the game on a fast break with just over two minutes left. A sequence of traded buckets later, and the teams found themselves in a 112-all tie with just under two minutes remaining to play.
Continuing his second half surge, Porzingis provided the game-defining sequence against his former team as the clock ticked under a minute remaining in overtime. He connected on a mammoth 30-foot three-pointer with 40 seconds left to put the Celtics ahead by three, then defended Brunson on the perimeter on the ensuing possession and forced a missed shot from deep. The Knicks retained the ball on an out-of-bounds call, but Bridges couldn’t handle a pass from Towns on their ensuing possession, handing the ball back to the Celtics with just 12 seconds to play. Hart fouled out putting Jrue Holiday on the line with an intentional foul, and Holiday’s two made free throws put the game on ice for the Celtics.
Next up, the Celtics will eye the regular season road win record, traveling to Orlando to face the Magic in Game #79, tomorrow at 7 PM EST on NBC Sports Boston.
