For the second game in a row, the Boston Celtics blew a massive lead. And, for the second game in a row, the New York Knicks stunned Boston on its home floor.
Prior to Wednesday night, no team had rallied from 20-point deficits to win consecutive playoff games, but the Knicks made history behind oppressive defense, crisp offensive execution and resourceful play in their 91-90 triumph at the TD Garden.
The Knicks outscored the Celtics by 13 in the fourth quarter and closed the game on an extended 38-17 run to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series, with Game 3 set for Saturday afternoon in Madison Square Garden.
Here are the winners and losers from Game 2 between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics.
WINNERS
Comeback Knicks
For the fifth time — out of their six victories this postseason — the Knicks erased a fourth-quarter deficit to secure a come-from-behind victory. Although logic suggests this pace to be wildly risky and unsustainable, New York keeps finding ways to win in the clutch.
It’s starting with defense, with the Knicks ramping up their intensity down low, tempting opposing teams to settle for perimeter jumpers. And then, on offense, the Knicks are operating with speed, ruthless efficiency and are selecting high-percentage shots.
Mikal Bridges: closer
He had entered the fourth quarter having missed all eight of his shot attempts and hadn’t recorded a single point. Yet, Mikal Bridges willed New York’s comeback, going 6-of-10 and scoring all 14 of his points in the final period.
And, for the second consecutive game, Bridges sealed a New York victory on a steal, highlighting his value as a two-way player.
LOSERS
Celtics collapse (again) in fourth
The Celtics have lost both fourth quarters in this series by a combined margin of 55-33, a staggering net margin of -22. Boston has been in a shooting slump, yes, but its apathy and avoidance of contact and physicality in fourth quarters is alarming. Boston held a 73-53 lead with 2:15 left in the third quarter.
That means the Celtics allowed New York to outscore them by a margin of 38-17 in just a little more than 14 minutes of game time. It’s one thing to miss shots; it’s entirely different when a team — the defending champions, at that — is outworked on its home floor for the second game in a row.
3-point shooting is costing Celtics the series
On Monday, the Celtics set a record for most missed 3-pointers in a single playoff game, with 45. On Wednesday, Boston missed 30 more, making even more history; that now marks the most misses from beyond the arc in consecutive postseason games.
The Celtics have combined to go 25-of-100 from 3-point range in Games 1 and 2. Sometimes teams go cold. The issue is that Boston is not doing nearly enough to overcome its sluggish perimeter shooting. If anything, the Celtics are doubling down, settling for far too many 3s in fourth quarters.
In both fourth quarters, the Celtics are now a combined 4-of-26 (15.4%) from beyond the arc. Boston has elite wings who can carve into the paint and score. At its best, it moves the ball crisply to find mismatches and open looks. Yet the Celtics are letting the ball stagnate and are hoisting up 3s deep in the shot clock. It’s costing them the series.
Knicks start slowly
Perhaps there was some comfort or complacency that came from stealing Game 1, but the Knicks missed the first seven shots they took and fell into a 7-0 deficit just minutes into the game.
New York finished the first period shooting just 26.1% from the field (6-of-23), including 12.5% from 3-point range (1-of-8). The 13 points New York scored in the frame was its lowest scoring first quarter in a postseason game since 2003.
Boston missing extended Kristaps Porziņģis minutes
Stretch center Kristaps Porziņģis, arguably, is Boston’s X-factor. At 7-foot-2, he’s a decent rim protector, but his real value lies in his range and ability to draw out opposing bigs to the perimeter. Yet, Porziņģis, who’s managing a non-COVID upper respiratory illness that forced him to miss eight games in early March, didn’t start Wednesday and played just 13:53.
When he was on the court, however, Porziņģis was effective, draining 3-of-5 shots for eight points, adding four rebounds — three of which were offensive.