Prior to tip-off, we learned that Avery Bradley’s sore Achilles would force him to miss another game. I thought this news would be the low point of the night. I was wrong. Dead wrong. Led by a dazzling Derrick Rose (30 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) and a relentless bench of no-names, the Knicks thumped the Celtics, 117-106.
God damnit. I shuffled the writing schedule last minute so I could write this recap because I love crapping on the Knicks. Jokes on me, I guess.
The Game Flow:
NY jumped out to a quick 9-5 lead thanks to 7 points by Lithuanian legend Mindaugas Kuzminskas. Brad Stevens promptly called a time-out and the Cs responded with a 7-0 run. The Celtics controlled the next 6 minutes by working the Knicks defense for easy buckets in the paint and open 3-pointers. The lead reached 9 until NY’s offense caught fire. NY made 7 straight shots. Boston won the quarter 34-31 thanks to 18 points in the paint.
In the 2nd quarter, the Knicks stayed hot and the Celtics did not. Minus a couple of strong blocks by Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, the Celtics interior defense was shit. And the rebounding was equally bad. Willy Hernangomez (17 points, 11 rebounds) killed them. The Knicks stretched the lead to 5 forcing Isaiah Thomas (39 points) to don his Superman cape about 30 minutes earlier than normal. IT dropped 13 in the quarter on a combination of circus drives and 3-point bombs. But the Celtics refused to tighten up defensively and NY led 63-54 at the break. NY’s bench had 33 points. Oh yeah, Al Horford shot 1-10 in the first half.
The 3rd quarter started with a triple from Cunnilingus or whatever that Lithuanian guy is called. Not a good sign. Thank god for Isaiah. The little guy (is anyone else getting annoyed with Tommy’s constant references?) ripped off 8 straight points to prevent this game from getting out of hand. Brad dusted off Jordan Mickey who responded with 2 points, 2 blocks and 1 steal. By the end of the quarter, Boston shaved a mere 4 points off the NY lead and trailed 88-83. Through 3 quarters, Horford and Smart were a combined 2-16 FG and +11. Figure that one out.
Brown (12 points, 4 rebounds) had a nice stretch at the start of the 4th quarter. He had a strong three-point play and went to the line 4 more times. Boston inched back to within 1, but the Knicks exploded midway through the quarter. Derrick Rose killed them. The Knicks reserves (55 points) killed them. The lack of rebounding (57-33) and second chance points (24-12) killed them. Did I forget anything?
The Celtics made Willy Hernangomez and Justin Holiday look like All-Stars.
.@willyhg94 doin’ work. #NYKvsBOS #Knicks 53 Celtics 52 | 2Q pic.twitter.com/haVHoQ0Fk1
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 19, 2017
Amir Johnson had 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and a team high +8.
In case you missed it, IT did this in the first quarter… 👀 https://t.co/8kNlqKPSoE
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 19, 2017
The Grid:
- Terry Rozier was a team low -22.
- Jae Crowder had 21 points on 7-13 FG
- Al Horford was 2-14 with 10 assists
“I don’t think we’re as good as everyone makes us out to be,” – Brad Stevens.
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