The postseason history between the Celtics and Knicks

With the New York Knicks win over the Detroit Pistons in Game 6, the Celtics will be facing off against the Knicks in the second round of the playoffs. Let’s take a look back on the matchups Boston has had against New York in the regular season and in playoffs past.

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Regular Season Head-to-Head Matchups

The Boston Celtics faced the New York Knicks four times in the regular season this year and finished with a perfect 4-0 record. The first matchup was on Opening Night on October 22nd. It was Ring Night for Celtics as they received their 2024 championship rings and raised Banner 18 to the rafters.

The Celtics proceeded to then blowout the Knicks 132-109 and tied the NBA record for three pointers made in a game with 29. Jayson Tatum was the leading scorer with 37 points and it set the tone early for what the Celtics matchups with the Knicks would look like.

Game 2 didn’t come again until February 8th where the Celtics went into Madison Square Garden and proceeded to blowout the Knicks again, this time by the score of 131-104. Without Jrue Holiday or Kristaps Porzingis, Jayson Tatum put on another masterful performance, this time dropping 40 points on 13-26 shooting to lead Boston to the win.

Game 3 came on February 23rd back in TD Garden. It was a lot closer of a game, but the result remained the same with the Celtics winning by a score of 118-105. It did look like it was going to be a blowout early on when Boston opened up a 27-point lead mid-way through the second quarter but New York was able to make a comeback and cut the lead to 4 by the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Celtics would proceed to go on a 21-6 run after that point which essentially ended the game. Jayson Tatum once again led the Celtics with 25 points and Jaylen Brown was right there with him with 24 points.

The final game of the regular season between these two teams took place on April 8th back in New York. This was the closest game of the season, going into overtime to decide a winner but it was ultimately once again Boston by a score of 119-117. It was a back and forth game all night and it looked like the Knicks were going to win with 11.9 seconds left in regulation when Josh Hart hit a layup to give New York a 3-point lead. However, it was once again Jayson Tatum coming up clutch as he hit a game tying three with 3.7 seconds left to send the game to overtime. Overtime was close as well, but it was Kristaps Porzingis who would ultimately hit the game winning three with 40.8 seconds left and the Knicks would turn it over on the next possession to end it.

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Playoff History

The rivalry between Boston and New York has been a story that is old as time so when it comes to the Celtics and Knicks facing off in the playoffs, there is a lot of history. These teams have faced off in 67 playoff games over the course of time with the Celtics holding the upper hand with a record of 36-31. The first time they matched up was all the way back in 1951 where the Knicks would win the series 2-0 in the Eastern Division Semifinals.

They would proceed to play each other for the next four seasons in a row where the Knicks would win in 1952 in a 2-1 series victory in the East Division Semifinals and in 1953 in a 3-1 series victory in the Eastern Division Finals. The Celtics would beat the Knicks twice in the Eastern Round Robin in 1954 where three teams would face off to play in what is essentially the conference finals and beat them in 1955 in a 2-1 series victory in the Eastern Division Finals.

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The Celtics wouldn’t play the Knicks again until 1967 where they won the series 3-1 in the Eastern Division Semifinals. Boston was led by Sam Jones who averaged an absurd 33.5 PPG on 55% shooting in the series.

They would matchup again in 1969 in the Eastern Division Finals where the Celtics would win again, this time in a 4-2 series victory. John Havlicek led Boston in scoring, averaging 20.7 PPG on 43% shooting and the Celtics would go on to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, winning the 1969 NBA Championship.

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The 70s would bring on a new era in the rivalry where Boston and New York would face off in three straight seasons from 1972-1974. In 1972 it was the Knicks who finally got their revenge, winning the Eastern Conference Finals 4-1 led by Walt Frazier who averaged 24 PPG on 53% shooting.

It would be an Eastern Conference Finals rematch in 1973 with the same result as the Knicks won again, this time in a 4-3 series where Frazier led New York again in scoring at 26.1 PPG. Another fun fact about this series in particular is that the Knicks would beat the Lakers in the NBA Finals and it was the last time New York won a championship.

In 1974 it was another Eastern Conference Finals rematch, however the Celtics would win the series this time 4-1. John Havlicek led the Celtics in scoring at 29.6 PPG on 60% shooting and would lead Boston to the NBA Championship over the Milwaukee Bucks.

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The 80s only saw two matchups, the first being in 1984 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Boston would win the series 4-3 led by Larry Bird who averaged 30.4 PPG, 10.6 REB, and 7.1 AST on 59% shooting from the field. In Game 7, Bird dropped a 39-point triple-double on the Knicks in TD Garden to advance them to the conference finals. The Celtics would beat the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals and beat the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

The next matchup came in 1988 Eastern Conference First Round where the Celtics would once again the series, this time 3-1. Boston was led by Larry Bird again who averaged 28.3 PPG and 8 AST on 48% shooting from the field. The Celtics would make it to the conference finals but losing to the Detroit Pistons.

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The next matchup wouldn’t come again until 1990 in the Eastern Conference First Round and for the first time 1973, the Knicks would win the series 3-2. New York was led by Patrick Ewing who averaged 31.6 PPG and 11.4 REB on 57% shooting from the field. In the deciding Game 5, Ewing would score 31 points in TD Garden to lead the Knicks to the series victory. Larry Bird led the Celtics again with 24.4 PPG, 9.2 REB, and 8.8 AST but this was a time where Boston’s dynasty years of the 80’s were starting to wind down.

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It took 21 years until the Celtics matched up with the Knicks again, this time in the 2011 Eastern Conference First Round. Boston would proceed to sweep the Knicks 4-0 led by Paul Pierce who averaged 22.3 PPG on 46% shooting from the field and 50% from three as well as Ray Allen who averaged 22 PPG on 57% shooting from the field and an insane 65% from three. In the deciding Game 4, Kevin Garnett dropped 26 points on 10-16 to lead the Celtics in a 101-89 victory and face off against the Miami Heat in the second round where Boston would lose.

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The most recent matchup to happen between Boston and New York was in 2013 in the Eastern Conference First Round. This time it would be the Knicks winning the series 4-2 led by Carmelo Anthony who averaged 29.2 PPG and Raymond Felton who averaged 17.2 PPG on 47% shooting from the field. Jeff Green was the leading scorer for the Celtics in this series at 20.3 PPG on 43% shooting from the field and 45% shooting from three but it was not enough.

It was the twilight years of the Big 3 era Celtics this would be the last playoff series Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce would be a part of playing in Boston. Garnett and Pierce would be traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason which would in turn give the Celtics the draft picks that would end up being Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum so it comes full circle.

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Series Prediction

The Knicks are a much better team than the Magic are. However, with the Celtics success against them this season, I have a hard time thinking this series won’t be more of the same. With that said I think the Celtics are going to beat the Knicks in five games.

Jalen Brunson has shown that he is a playoff performer over the last two seasons and his clutch time shot making is nothing to take lightly. However, Jayson Tatum is coming off of maybe the best playoff series of his career and has destroyed the Knicks this season in every single matchup.

There are some concerns if you are the Celtics in this series, mainly the injuries to Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday. Brown played well in the Magic series, but is still dealing with a right knee injury that could hinder his explosiveness. Holiday on the other hand missed the last three games of the Magic series with a right hamstring strain and his status for the Knicks series is unknown as of right now.

I hope this series is much of the same from the regular season and the Celtics have an easy time against the Knicks defense, but I won’t overlook New York as an opponent. However, Knicks fans have started to chant “We Want Boston” again and so far every team that has wanted Boston has lost to Boston so I guess we’ll have to see how it all plays out.