Going into the Eastern Conference Semi Finals, the New York Knicks were heavy under-dogs when it became their turn to face the defending champion Boston Celtics. The duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown compared to New York’s newly assembled duo of Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony Towns painted a picture that the Boston Celtics would breeze right through the Knicks, and eventually end up in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Unfortunately, looking at how the Knicks are up 3 games to 1 against the Celtics, we know that wasn’t the case. A question lingers through majority of the NBA, specifically Boston’s head, what happened?
In game one, the odds looked to be in the Celtic’s favor through the entire game– until half-way through the third quarter. The Celtics held a commanding 20 point lead, which nowadays in the NBA means the game is secured. However, Jalen Brunson led a 53 point surge for the Knicks in the 19 minutes left of playing time, finishing the game with 29 points in total. Mikal Bridges made his presence more than known as well, having 14 points in the fourth quarter. In the end, Brunson’s final six point run and Mikal Bridges’ defensive dominance in overtime led to a remarkable comeback for the Knicks and handed them game one.
Despite this loss, The Celtics and their fans kept their head help up high. In Game Two, the Celtics found themselves in the same position. Up 20 in the third quarter and on fire, lightning can’t strike the same place twice, right?
Wrong. Very wrong.
Mikal Bridges, just like the game before, dropped all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter. Jalen Brunson went blow for blow with Jayson Tatum, and Josh Hart had his first big game of the series leading the Knicks with 23 points. The game came down to the last shot, the Celtics inbounding the ball down one point with three seconds left. The pass went to star Jaylen Brown, where Mikal Bridges would rip the ball out of his hands and secure Game Two for the knicks.
And just like that, the New York Knicks held a 2 game to 0 lead against the favored Celtics. Boston was down in morale, and that showed in their three point shooting, coming close to breaking a record with how many they were missing. Game Three is only a few days ahead and is the most important due to the key factor that not a SINGLE NBA team has come back when they went down three games to none.
The Celtics took note of this, and they put on a performance that everyone had expected of them previously. A trend in all of these games is that the Knicks went down by 20, and the same thing happened in this game. Celtics held a 20 point lead, however one thing was different this game.
They held it.
Despite every attempt Brunson made at starting a comeback, a costly turnover or a Derrick White three point would immediately nullify anything that the Knicks did to try to bring this game back. In the end, it ended in a 115-93 win for the Celtics.
The momentum had officially changed, and Game Four meant everything for the Knicks. If they win, they go up 3-1, which makes their odds of winning much higher– even compared to when they were up 2-0. However, if the Celtics win, then all momentum is on their side and suddenly they lost their lead entirely. Both teams knew the stakes coming into this game, and they were ready to put everything on the line to make this a game to remember.
The Celtics took the first quarter by its horns, scoring 39 compared to the Knicks 28, giving them an 11 point lead at halftime as both teams will go to score 23 in the second quarter. However, in the third quarter, the Knicks scored 37 compared to the Celtics 23 riding a monstrous Jalen Brunson scoring performance. In the fourth quarter, both teams were going back and fourth. Unfortunately, Jayson Tatum fell on the court and began reaching towards his Achilles, indicating he was going to be out of the game for a while. With their main performer getting taken out of the game, Celtics fell to the Knicks 121 to 113.
Heading into Game Five, the masses have flocked to the New York Knicks side. Jayson Tatum is reported to be out for the rest of the series with an Achilles injury, and momentum was completely on the Knicks’ side. However, the reigning champions still have four other starters that the Knicks need to worry about. Jalen Brunson had an off game and ended up fouling out late into the third quarter where the Knicks usually shine, Derrick White had a ridiculous performance in Tatum’s name, going for 34 points and having a good three-point shooting percentage with 53% on the night. Jaylen Brown also stepped up after a disappointing Game Four, scoring 26 points and 12 assists having a double double on the night.
Game Six means everything to both the Knicks and Celtics. After Tatum went down with his injury, NBA fans completely gave up on the Celtics and started looking into the future at a Knicks and Indiana Pacers Eastern Conference Finals match-up. If the Knicks fall short to the Celtics in Game Six, I can’t possibly see Game Seven going their way either. The Knicks are a good team, however momentum is a key factor in basketball. The Celtics have all the motivation in the world and are showing that through their gameplay.
I predict that despite the Celtics resurgence in Game Five, the Knicks will pull away in Game Six and advance to the Conference Finals against the Pacers. Knicks in Six.
