The defending champs are officially in trouble. After another game sealing defensive play by Mikal Bridges and the New York Knicks, their second straight incredible comeback on the road is complete as they head back to Manhattan up 2-0.
It was Jalen Brunson getting it done down the stretch once again, along with Mikal Bridges, who scored all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns’s presence was felt all night in the restricted area as he dominated with 21 points and 17 rebounds.
The Celtics led 50-41 at halftime and for the second game in a row, looked like the stronger team throughout most of the contest. According to Head coach Joe Mazzulla, his team found good shot attempts, but hurt themselves in other ways at the end.
“I said throughout the end of that 4th quarter I thought we generated some good looks. Then, I thought we had some live ball turnovers and they took advantage of it.”
With about 19 seconds remaining, Jayson Tatum glided across the full length of the court for an epic one-handed slam, giving Boston an 90-89 lead. Al Horford set a screen at around half court, Tatum forced Mitchell Robinson to switch by attacking hard and the lane was wide open with shooters in the corner.
Now going the other way, Brunson proceeded to knock down two clutch free throws after getting fouled by Holiday on a jumper from the elbow.
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Mazzulla let his team inbound the ball right away looking for a similar action, however New York’s defense was ready.
“Had one left, got a good look on the exact same play 20 seconds earlier. Tried to execute the exact same thing, they did a better job of their lower pickup point,” Mazzulla told the media following the loss.
Instead of the defensive coverage from Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby being so high on the perimeter, they were closer to the three point line, not allowing Tatum the same running start.
The Celtics’ repeated woes of horrific three point shooting and crumbling under pressure mark a trend so far in this series that’s put them in a hole. It’ll be fascinating to see how the NBA’s most winning franchise responds.
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