That was brutal. MSG was dead, the Knicks were playing for pride and contracts, and the Celtics had their minds on anything else except this game. Celtics maintained a lead for a majority of the game, but never pushed out far enough to take the edge off. Nonetheless Boston came away with the victory 96-92 on a night when they needed a win. Here’s what we liked and didn’t like.
UP
1. Standings
After the Miami loss it was pretty much a fact that Boston wasn’t going to get the 6th seed. And after since no one wants the seventh seed the plan is to solidify the 8th. With the Hornets and Nets both .5 games behind Boston, they needed to win to maintain their position. They were able to do just that and coupled with a Hornets loss moved up 1.5 games on the only team under them that owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Boston.
2. Isaiah returning to form
His shots looked a little awkward at times, and he didn’t take it to the rim with his normal ferocity, but Thomas looked like he was starting to get comfortable again. He had an amazing 4pt play, and made some shots down the stretch that gave you glimpses of his old form. His shooting numbers were rough (4/13), but he did a great job getting to line and capitalizing (8/9). He finished with 18 points and 6 assists.
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3. Jae Crowder
He brought the hustle, steadied the boat in that first half, and was our main energy guy all night. He did get a little over zealous in that 3rd quarter with his shooting, but he settled down and took advantage of bad defensive angles by the Knicks to get to the hoop. All in all another solid game for Jae Crowder. He finished with 17 points and 9 rebounds.
4. Free Throws
Usually it’s the Celtics on the wrong end of free throw disparity, but their were no complaints today. The Celtics took FORTY-THREE free throws to the Knicks Fourteen. Overall they were a +23 in FTM (34-9).
Down
1. Andrea Barnagni
He feasted on mismatches, had plenty of success against our bigs, looking like a guy playing for a big contract. Andrea killed us tonight to the tune of 25 points,7 rebounds, and 4 assists.
2. Points in the Paint
The Knicks feasted on Boston down low. They outscored the Celtics 46-32 in the Paint.
3. 2nd chance points
One of the best known ways to keep an inferior team from staying in the game is to limit their opportunities. The Knicks had 20 2nd chance points going 9/13 in those opportunities. Most of those were hustle plays that could have been avoided.
4. Turn-ova
Evan Turner had a pretty good game (15 points, 7 rebounds), but his 5 assists also came with 5 turnovers. A majority of them came from mental lapses, and bad decision-making which is something he’s been known for.
Final reminder: Our party is at 2 pm today!
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