The Boston Celtics visited the New York Knicks in a possible playoff preview at Madison Sq. Backyard on Saturday night time.
Boston improved to 37-16 with a 131-104 win whereas New York fell to 34-18.
Boston responded swiftly after Thursday’s NBA Finals rematch loss to the Dallas Mavericks, because the NBA world settled down from the surprising Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis commerce with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics missed Jrue Vacation and Kristaps Porzingis in opposition to the Knicks, although that didn’t appear to matter because the first-quarter lead jumped shut to twenty factors.
Listed here are three studs and three duds from Boston’s win:
STUDS
Jayson Tatum
Tatum met the moments underneath the brilliant lights of the world’s most well-known area.
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The Celtics star began quick with double-digit factors within the first quarter. Tatum led the group that shortly acquired scorching from the perimeter with a pair of early triples. He stayed environment friendly from the sector with ridiculous accuracy, headlined by a step-back three-pointer exterior the proper wing to power a New York timeout within the third quarter. The Celtics acquired an elite scoring efficiency in primetime from their $314 million celebrity.
Tatum turned the third participant in Celtics franchise historical past to have back-to-back video games with at the least 35 factors in opposition to the Knicks, per the ESPN broadcast. He completed the night time with 40 factors on 13-of-26 from the sector.
Tatum confirmed his energy with this spotlight dunk to place an exclamation level on his night time for the Celtics.
Payton Pritchard
Pritchard took the memo on a scorching three-point night time for Boston and ran with it. The Celtics guard cooked from the perimeter Saturday night time with 25 factors and went 6-for-8 from three-point vary.
Jalen Brunson
The Knicks star did his factor Saturday night time. He drained all 13 of his free throws and shot over 50% from the ground to tally 36 factors.
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Sadly for Brunson’s sake, he didn’t have a lot assist in the loss.
DUDS
Knicks’ rebounding
The Celtics benefited from a robust begin on the glass and earned second-chance alternatives in opposition to the Knicks.
Boston gained the rebounding battle 48-30.
Karl Anthony-Cities
New York’s star huge man didn’t have a lot assist for Brunson Saturday night time. The Celtics held him to simply 9 factors. “KAT” completed with a minus-26 score.
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Josh Hart
New York’s beginning lineup struggles unfold to Hart. The New York guard didn’t get better from an inefficient first half and posted a minus-31 score.
