It hadn’t been since the end of November that the Celtics had lost to a team that was worse than them in overall record. It seems as though they were overdue for such an occasion. The Celtics that we have gotten used to as of late appeared to be lost heading into their matchup with the “Super Team” from New York, the Knicks.
The Knicks were without some of their star power in Kristaps Porzingis and Joakim Noah and were still able to stick it to the Celtics team. Isaiah Thomas still scored 39 points while Crowder was able to add an additional 21, but it wasn’t Boston’s night. Derrick Rose led the way while Boston was playing their bench, allowing him to grab 30 points and 10 rebounds. The Celtics looked as if they would be able to comeback and win yet another close game when Jaylen Brown’s two free-throws put them back one at 97-96 in the fourth. From their on out though it was the Derrick Rose show as he went on an individual 8-0 run that closed Boston out. The Knicks came out of TD Garden with a 117-106 victory.
There are a number of things the Celtics could have done better and will need to improve if they hope to beat actually good teams. In the eyes of Isaiah Thomas, it was easy to understand how the night went the way it did:
“They punked us…You’re not going to beat anybody the way they manhandled us.”
“Manhandled” is probably the best way to describe last night. Boston shot a dismal 38.5% from the field and could never generate any offense when Thomas wasn’t on the court. The defensive rebounding was also non-existent on the Boston side as they rarely came up with any shots the Knicks were throwing at the board. The Celtics came away with only 24 defensive rebounds compared to the 39 the Knicks came away with.
Al Horford had a disappointing night as well shooting 2-of-14 from the field and a lackluster 1 for 8 on 3-point attempts. Horford was quoted as saying that he was getting good looks all night, but they just weren’t landing.
This Boston team needs to forget about All-Star votes, forget about everything other than their ability to produce when it matters on the court. This was a weakened, depleted Knicks team and they handed it to the Celtics. If they are to have any chance in their Saturday game with the Trail Blazers, the Celtics must move on and regroup.
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