The Celtics begin the Eastern Conference Semifinals by hosting the division rival New York Knicks. The Celtics were 4-0 this season against the Knicks. The Celtics began the season with a 132-109 win in Boston on opening night. They won 131-104 on February 8 in New York. They won 118-105 on February 23 in Boston. Finally, they won 119-117 in overtime on April 8 in New York.
Last season, the Celtics won the series between these two teams4-1. They won the first 4 games (2 in Boston and 2 in New York) and lost just their final meeting at Boston. They played one extra game due to the in-season tournament. In the regular season, the Celtics are 308-190 overall all time vs the Knicks and they are 179-129 in games played in Boston.
When Celtics rivals are mentioned, usually teams like the Lakers, Heat and Sixers come to mind first, but the New York and Boston rivalry is one of the longest running rivalries in the NBA. The Celtics and the Knicks both were founded in 1946 and they are the only two remaining original teams in the NBA that are still in their original cities and with their same nicknames.
These two teams have met in the playoffs 15 times with the Celtics winning 8 of those series and the Knicks winning 7 of those series. They first met in the playoffs in 1951 when the Knicks won the series 2-0. This is the first time they are meeting in the playoffs since 2013. It is the first time since 1984 that they are meeting past the first round.
The Celtics won their first round series 4-1 over the Orlando Magic. They were plagued by injuries in that series. Jrue Holiday missed the last 3 games of the series and Jayson Tatum missed Game 2 due to a bone bruise in his wrist. Jaylen Brown played in every game, but was hampered by a bone bruise in his knee and a dislocated finger. Kristaps Porzingis was elbowed in the forehead and received 5 stitches. They have been off since Tuesday for some much needed rest and healing.
The Knicks won their series over the Pistons 4-2. That series was hard fought but it wasn’t nearly as physical as the Celtics-Magic series was. The Knicks won Games 1, 3, 4 and 6 and the Pistons won Games 2 and 5 at New York and the Knicks won Games 3, 4 and 6 in Detroit. They closed out their series on Thursday and so they had a few days rest also.
Thanks, in part, to having 5 days off for the Celtics and 3 days off for the Knicks before the start of this series, the injury list for both teams is clear with no injuries to report for either team. Jrue Holiday, who missed the last 3 games of the First Round with a hamstring strain went through full practices and is ready to play in this game. Jaylen Brown said he is close to 100% as Game 1 approaches. Jayson Tatum has been playing through a bone bruise in his wrist and will continue to do so in this game.
Probable Celtics Starters
PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Derrick White
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Kristaps Porzingis
Celtics Reserves
Payton Pritchard
Neemias Queta
Baylor Scheierman
Jordan Walsh
Luke Kornet
Torrey Craig
Sam Hauser
Xavier Tillman, Sr
JD Davison
Al Horford
2 Way Players
Drew Peterson
Miles Norris
Injuries/Out
None Listed
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Probable Knicks Starters
PG: Jalen Brunson
SG: Mikal Bridges
SF: Josh Hart
PF: OG Anunoby
C: Karl-Anthony Towns
Knicks Reserves
Delon Wright
Cameron Payne
Miles McBride
Pacome Dadiet
Precious Azhiuwa
Tyler Kolek
PJ Tucker
Mitchell Robinson
Landry Shamet
Ariel Hukporti
2 Way Players
MarJon Beauchamp
Kevin McCullar, Jr
Anton Watson
Injuries/Out
None Listed
Head Coach
Tom Thibodeau
Key Matchups
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Jrue Holiday
Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images
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Jalen Brunson
Photo by Evan Bernstein/Getty Images
Jrue Holiday vs Jalen Brunson
Knicks’ All Star Jalen Brunson was 5th in MVP voting last season. He was voted Clutch Player of the Year this season. In Round 1, he averaged 31.5 points, 4 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game. He is shot 43.6% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc. In 4 games against the Celtics this season, he averaged 26.8 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists while shooting 52.8% from the field and 43.3% from beyond the arc. Slowing him down needs to be a priority.
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Kristaps Porzingis
Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Karl-Anthony Towns
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
Kristaps Porzingis vs Karl-Anthony Towns
Towns gives the Knicks a strong presence in the paint along with the ability to spread the floor. In the first round, he averaged 19.7 points, 10 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. He is shot 48.9% from the field and 48% from beyond the arc. In 4 games against the Celtics this season, he averaged 19.8 points, 12 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 53.4% from the field and 63.6% from beyond the arc.
Honorable Mention
Jayson Tatum vs OG Anunoby
In the first round, Anunoby averaged 17.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 2.5 steals per game. He is shot 42.4% from the field and 35.1% from beyond the arc. In 3 games against the Celtics this season he averaged 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal per game while shooting just 29.6% from the field and 13.3% from beyond the arc. Anunoby is also a very good defender and will make it harder for the Celtics to score.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense is the key to winning every game. Defense is important in the regular season, but even more so in the playoffs. In the first round, the Celtics had a defensive rating of 103.8 (3rd) while the Knicks had a defensive rating of 109.4 (5th). The Knicks scored 108.6 points per game (6th) while the Celtics scored 106.4 points per game (10th). In the first round, the Celtics attempted just 31.2 threes per game (12th)while the Knicks attempted just 30.2 threes (14th). Without the Magic’s defense that is designed to limit 3 point shots, we should see the Celtics shoot more 3’s as they did in the regular season. They need to play tough, lock down defense in this game and limit the Knicks offense both in the paint and on the perimeter.
Rebound – The Celtics can’t score if they don’t have the ball, and the best way to get the ball is to grab rebounds. The Celtics need to rebound as a team with every Celtic battling on the boards. It will take a team effort to beat the Knicks on the boards. The Celtics were 9th in the first round with 42.2 rebounds per game, while the Knicks 11th with 40.0 rebounds per game. The Celtics must put in extra effort to crash the boards and beat the Knicks to rebounds. The Celtics are 44-7 when tied or out-rebounding their opponents. It’s not a coincidence that the game they lost to the Magic was the one they were out-rebounded in.
Move the Ball Carefully – The Celtics need to move the ball in order to find the best shot on each possession. When the ball sticks and players try to do too much, the Celtics struggle. They are at their best when they pass the ball and keep it moving. But they have to make careful passes and not get sloppy because the Knicks average 17.2 points off turnovers per game (5th).
Play All Out 48 Minutes – When the Celtics lost this season, it was usually because they didn’t play as hard as their opponents. They can’t afford to allow the Knicks to play harder than them if they want to win this game. They have to play hard from the opening tip until the final buzzer and not allow the Knicks to out-work them for any stretch during the game. The Celtics shouldn’t let up on their effort because they have beaten the Knicks 4 times in the regular season. The Knicks are a dangerous team and will beat the Celtics if they don’t take them seriously and play hard from the opening tip until the final buzzer.
X-Factors
Home Game – Both teams are well rested, although the Celtics have been off a couple more days than the Knicks. The Celtics need to take advantage of home court and the boost their fans can give them. The Knicks will face a hostile crowd and an unfamiliar arena along with travel which will hopefully give the Celtics the edge. Teams play all season for home court and the Celtics need to take advantage of playing on their home court.
Officiating – Officiating always has the potential to be an x-factor. Each officiating crew calls the game differently. Some refs call it tight and constantly call fouls while others let them play with few fouls called. Some refs just make terrible head-scratching calls. The Celtics need to adjust to how the refs are calling the game and not allow bad calls or no calls to take away their focus.
Official Report
Crew Chief – Marc Davis – Davis has a home win/loss record of 35-33 this season. He calls 49.6% of fouls on the home team in the playoffs and 51.8% of fouls on the home team in the regular season. The Celtics are 11-5 over the past 2 seasons and 3-3 this season with Davis as a referee. The Knicks are 6-3 over the past 2 seasons and 3-2 this season with Davis. In the anonymous player survey, 4.6% of the players voted Davis as the best ref and 6.8% voted him the worst ref. Davis was crew chief for game 4 of the Orlando series where the Celtics were called for 17 fouls and the Magic were called for 24 fouls.
Referee – BenTaylor – Taylor has a home win/loss record of 43-24. He calls 50.6% of fouls on the home team in the playoffs and 49.1% of fouls on the home team in the regular season. The Celtics are 5-3 over the past 2 seasons and 1-1 this season with Taylor as an official. The Knicks are 5-5 over the past 2 years and 5-3 this past season with Taylor. In the player survey, 6.8% of the players voted for Ben Taylor as the worst ref in the league.
Umpire – JB DeRosa – DeRosa has a home win/loss record of 25-14 this season. He calls 58.2% of fouls on the home team in the playoffs and 48.2% of fouls on the home team in the regular season. The Celtics are 5-2 over the past 2 seasons and 2-0 this season with DeRosa as a referee. The Knicks are 7-4 over the past 2 seasons and 2-3 this season with DeRosa.
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