There are only a handful of teams that can beat the Celtics in the half court when they show up to play.
New York is not one of them.
The Celtics won their fourth straight tonight, beating New York 100-91.
The first quarter played out thus: The Celtics looked like a team that was playing with a bit of fatigue and the Knicks looked like a team that was fatigued and also three games under .500. Kristaps and Carmelo scored 10 of the Knicks’ 18 points in the first quarter and the rest of the Knicks just kind of got paid to watch the game, not unlike your humble reviewer.
I’m not entirely sure what the Triangle is supposed to look like, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be that easy to defend. There were only a few times where the Knicks got off an uncontested shot, and those were typically long twos or threes from bigs that don’t have that kind of range.
Also, neither team could buy a bucket. Boston shot 32% from the field in the first–and the Knicks were worse at 27%. The quarter ended with the C’s up four, 22-18. This was New York’s shot chart after one:
The second quarter was more of the same–back and forth, both teams missing baskets. Then Evan Turner hit an absolutely ridiculous layup and the Celtics went on a 13-2 run over the next four minutes.
And then they turned into the Harlem Globetrotters. Isaiah “Meadowlark Lemon” Thomas topped about a 45 foot ally-oop to Amir with a behind-the-back kick-out to a wide-open Jerebko for three and the Celtics were up fifteen. The Knicks bounced back, went on their own little run, both teams traded baskets over the final minute and the Celtics took a 10 point lead into the locker room. Both teams improved their shooting in the second quarter, although in New York’s case they only improved it to 32.7%.
Carmelo hit a couple tough shots, but generally spent the half wearing a Jae Crowder coat. He did lead all scorers at the end of the second quarter, but that was probably because he took eight more shots than any other Knick and six more than any Celtic. Kristaps, after making some noise in the first disappeared, except that he got called for a couple rookie fouls and did a solid job grabbing boards. Celtics scoring was pretty evenly distributed aside from Thomas. Stevens played 11 guys in the first half and nine of them scored.
The Knicks’ were a bit more efficient in the third, but that didn’t help them much. The Celtics couldn’t really extend their lead during the period, but the Knicks couldn’t close it either. An Amir Johnson tip in with two tenths left on the clock gave Boston a twelve point lead at the end of the third, 77-65. Kristaps played a bit better, and Carmelo kept shooting the ball and shooting the ball and shooting the ball. At the end of the third, ‘Melo, who will probably be fighting off Crowder’s defense in his nightmares tonight, had taken 20 shots. Ten more than any other Knick. On the Celtics side, it was all about Jae Crowder–who kicked in 13 of the Celtics’ 26 points in the 3rd.
The Knicks made their push a few minutes into the fourth. Boston’s lead got as low as five but the Knicks couldn’t get past that point. Then with a bit under three minutes to go, Isaiah Thomas went on a 6-2 run and the lead was back up to nine and the only thing in doubt was the final score.
Green
Jae Crowder’s defense
Jae Crowder’s offense
Isaiah Thomas in the second quarter and late in the game.
Evan Turner throwing the ball over his shoulder and into the basket
Gross
The officiating in the fourth quarter
The Celtics’ free throw shooting (18/27)
Greenlights
Evan Turner with the up and under layup. pic.twitter.com/OSKNfTNWU9
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 28, 2015
Thomas looks ahead to Johnson for the jam for @celtics on @NBATV! #NYKatBOS #NBARapidReplay https://t.co/JAg7iILCyu — NBA (@NBA) December 28, 2015
Isaiah feeds Jerebko. https://t.co/Ca5EKrzZ6H
— Chris Forsberg (@ESPNForsberg) December 28, 2015
Isaiah Thomas hits No. 99 in transition for the alley-oop tip-in! C’s are on top of the Knicks 56-44. pic.twitter.com/zDoSy9UalT
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 28, 2015
Grid
List of players who out-rebounded the shortest player on the court:
- Kristaps Porzhingis
- Carmelo Anthony
Marcus Smart returned, but was not a significant factor scoring 6 points on 2-6 shooting over 13 minutes.
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