The New York Knicks couldn’t muster a win over the Boston Celtics in the regular season, but they pulled off a dramatic 108-105 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 1, surviving foul trouble and cold shooting, overcoming a 20-point deficit.
The Knicks kept pace with the Celtics in the first quarter, trailing just by one. But then the game broke open in the second quarter when Karl-Anthony Towns picked up his third foul just as he was heating up offensively. The Celtics closed the half with a 30-14 run with Towns on the bench.
But the Knicks rallied in the third, led by OG Anunoby, whose two threes midway into the third brought the Knicks to within 14. New York ended the 3rd quarter down just by 9, thanks to a 20-9 run, propelled by strong defensive pressure and rebounding, leading to fastbreak points with Towns on the bench.
The Knicks closed the gap to one early in the 4th with Jalen Brunson on the bench, thanks to threes from Deuce McBride and Anunoby, who later tied the game at 86 all with 7:26 left with a running dunk.
Brunson, back on the floor, delivered big moments — tying the game at 91, then drilling back-to-back threes to give New York its first lead since the first quarter.
With under a minute left, Brunson found Anunoby wide open for a clutch three, but Boston tied it with a quick basket. Anunoby missed a midrange jumper, and Derrick White grabbed an offensive rebound with 28 seconds left and the game tied at 100. Jayson Tatum missed a step-back three with 10 seconds left that would have put the Celtics up.
In the final seconds of the fourth quarter, the scene was then set for Brunson to be a hero again. But the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year missed an open floater on the final Knicks possession in regulation. Tatum missed a shot with less than a second to go, sending the game into overtime.
In overtime, Anunoby opened with a powerful and-one dunk, and Mikal Bridges buried a three to extend the lead. Towns tipped in a miss to push the margin to six, and the Knicks wisely used a foul to prevent Jaylen Brown from launching a potential game-tying three, sealing the gritty 108-105 win.
The Celtics were a dismal 15 of 60 from behind the arc, missing a record 45 threes. The Knicks were 45.9% from three but just 54.8% from the free throws.
New York was led by Anunoby and Brunson, who scored 29 points apiece. Josh Hart managed 14 points, but his 5 offensive rebounds were just as critical in the win.
Brown was just 1 of 10 from three — clearly still recovering from his knee injury. But the Knicks’ defense was as important a factor. The Knicks neutralized the Celtics’ biggest weapon: the three-point shot, just as the Orlando Magic had done in their sole victory in the first round.
Jayson Tatum ended the night with 23 points, but off an abysmal 7-20 shooting from the field.
Game 2 is set for Wednesday at 7:00 PM at TD Garden with the Knicks up 1-0 in the series.
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