Brown Leads Celtics Over Knicks
Photo: Special to the NY Knicks
By Andrew Rosario
As exhilrated as the New York Knicks felt after their 25 point comeback win against the Boston Celtics last Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, the Celtics were just as disgusted. When they faced each last night for the second time of the home and home, this time at TD Garden in Boston, there were two questions to ask: Could the Knicks carry over the momentum from one of their best comeback victories? Could Boston put the devastating loss behind them?
From the start, it appeared Boston was suffering from the hangover loss. New York jumped out to a 19-13 lead after RJ Barrett, (who hit the game winning shot in the last game) drains a 3-pointer. New York extended the lead to 22-14 after a Emmanuel Quickley jumper. Another Barrett jumper closed out the first quarter with a 26-21 New York lead.
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
Things turned around for Boston from that point on. The Celtics outscored the Knicks 23-16 in the second with Josh Richardson scoring 7 points.
The second half saw Boston dominate as they outscored New York 32-18 in third and 23-15 in the fourth leading to 99-75 win. Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 22 points and Richardson came off the bench chipping in 17. 4 of the 5 Knicks starters scored in double figures led by Barrett’s 19 points. The Knicks bench was non existent as they only contributed 6 points (55 minutes) from Quentin Grimes.
Knicks Julius Randle struggled all night. He finished with 13 points (6 of 19, 1 of 8 from 3 point land) in 37 minutes. Earlier in the day the NBA fined him $25K after his profanity laced post game press conference after the come from behind win.
Said second year head coach Tom Thibodeau of Randle’s performance, “like anyone, you have a bad day at work and you bounce back the next day,” he said. “Just make sure it’s not two days in a row.”
Red hot Evan Fournier was out with a bruised thigh as he was looking to become the first player in NBA history to score 30 or more points in 4 straight games against his former team.
New York host San Antonio Monday Night and the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night.
