The Boston Celtics were victorious against the New York Knicks on Wednesday night by a final score of 101-99. This game was very close for the entire duration; in the final minutes the Celtics had tough, physical defense and great ball movement to propel them to victory.
The Celtics came out hot as they started the game off on a 7-2 run. They were playing very physical and making tough shots, playing great offense in transition and forcing the Knicks to shoot tough shots.
Boston got most of their points from running in transition from attacking the rim they had 16 fast breakpoints. Credit to the Knicks as they battled and stayed with the Celtics in this one playing hard defense with great floor spacing. The Celtics were hanging on to a 47-46 lead heading into the locker room.
In the third quarter, The Knicks came out hot starting on the quarter on a 7-0 run making the score 57-50 with 10:14 remaining in the third quarter. The Celtics would crawl back in it with a 7-0 run of its on making the score 58-57 with 7:14 to play in the third quarter. as both teams would go back and fourth full of tough plays and grittiness on both sides of the floor the Celtics took a 73-70 lead to end the third quarter.
This Celtics run was guided by the Celtics getting back in transition and getting stops on the defensive side of the ball. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown guided the momentum for the Celtics moving forward.
In the fourth quarter, the Knicks came out on a 5-0 run extending their lead 75-70 with 9:28 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Celtics would jump right back in it as they cut the lead to 78-73 with 8:55 remaining in the fourth quarter. as the Celtics continued to step up defensively and started to find open shots on the offensive end.
Final minutes, the Celtics really started to pick up the intensity as they started to find their groove. Marcus Smart would knock down a dagger three to give the Celtics a 96-93 lead with 36 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The Celtics would be able to hold off and secure the victory.
The Celtics had three players score in double figures. Leading the way for the Celtics was Jaylen Brown with 32 points on 12-26 shooting and 10 rebounds, Jayson Tatum also had 25 points. Marcus Smart added 17 points on 4-11 shooting as well with a clutch three in the fourth.
“I make winning plays for my team,” Smart said. “I’m going to give us extra possessions. My threes, I’ve always believed in myself, like I said. I [couldn’t] care less what anybody says, I’m going to continue to shoot it. My teammates continue to believe in me.”
“Tonight,” he said, “we just made a big effort to constantly keep going no matter what happened on either end.”
The Knicks only had two players score double figures. Leading the way for the Knicks was Julius Randle with 22 points on 9-23 shooting, RJ Barrett also had 29 points on 10-14 shooting.
The Celtics improve to 25-25 on the season, and will take on the Minnesota Timber-wolves on Friday night at 7:30 PM EST at the Garden.
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*PHOTO VIA BOSTON GLOBE*