Final: Knicks 102, Celtics 93

GAME: No. 35 of 82:
WHO: Celtics (26-8) vs. Knicks (16-14)
WHEN:  8:00 EST
WHERE:  Madison Square Garden
RADIO: 100.7 WZLX
TV: TNT

Projected starters

Celtics
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Al Horford
C: Aron Baynes

Inactive: Marcus Morris (knee) is out. Jaylen Brown (Achilles) and Shane Larkin were both late scratches.

Knicks
PG: Jarrett Jack
SG: Courtney Lee 
F: Lance Thomas
F: Kristaps Porzingis
C: Enes Kanter

Inactives: Tim Hardaway Jr. is out.

Third Quarter Notes

• The Celtics starting lineup came out in the third quarter with quite a bit more pep in their step. They kept up their disciplined defense on the Knicks starting five and also saw their 3-point jumpers start to fall. They opened things up with a 17-9 run over the first five minutes of the third to take a 57-49 lead.


• Kyrie Irving made a living from beyond the arc early, hitting three 3-point jumpers to score nine early points in the frame. 12 of his 19 shot attempts were from downtown.


• With the offense rolling early, Brad Stevens wisely elected to spend Irving to the bench for an early rest, opening the door for him to be able to close out the entire game in the fourth quarter. Terry Rozier stayed out with the starters, who continued the strong start to build a nine-point lead at one point.


• Porzingis finally scored his first point on a free throw, but remained out of rhythm all quarter before heading to the bench with foul trouble (4).


• Michael Beasley was the only Knicks that had anything going on the offensive end, helps the hosts climb out of a hole with a 10-point fourth quarter.


• C's squandered the lead after going to the bench unit at the end of the frame, giving up a 12-3 run to close the quarter against the Knicks second unit.

• Brad Stevens rolled out an interesting mix to start the second quarter and they responded accordingly. The Rozier/Irving/Nader/Ojeleye/Theis unit jumped out to 8-0 run with some tenacious defense and solid weak side rebounding. Knicks bench unit have been reliant on long jumpers with Ojeleye doing a nice job on Michael Beasley.


• Nice to see Abdel Nader hit a big 3 from above the break off an offensive rebound after struggling with his shot for much of the year.


• The Knicks bench responded after a timeout with a 6-0 run of their own, before this game effectively turned into a rock fight for the final eight minutes of the frame.


• The Celtics did a nice job defensively, particularly on Kristaps Porzingis (0-of-11 from field at one point) but they weren't able to take advantage with their sub 33 percent shooting. Al Horford, Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart combined for 2-of-7 from downtown despite all of those shots being wide open looks.


• Knicks maintained a 14-3 edge on second chance points in the first half, thanks to more great work on the glass by Enes Kanter. He now has 13 offensive rebounds against the Celtics over 1.5 games this year.

• Knicks come out red-hit shooting the ball, going 6-of-7 from the field in opening three minutes to jump out to 13-2 run. The gameplan has been to attack Kyrie Irving early and often and it's created plenty of switches and mismatches in other spots, which has led to open looks.


• Aron Baynes continues to look a bit uncomfortable on the offensive end after a dud outing on Wednesday night. He hasn't been a big liability in that area this year, but the C's need him to contribute tonight with Jaylen Brown out.


• A lot of unforced miscues early. Marcus Smart dribbling the ball out of bounds, Al Horford blowing layups, which has only compounded an ugly shooting start (4-of-15) on the whole. The Knicks


• Five of the ten players the Celtics have available tonight are rookies (including four off the bench) which is why the early double-digit deficit the C's have dug themselves into is especially troubling tonight. There's only uncertainity available off the bench outside of Rozier.


• C's defensive intensity picked up nicely towards the end of the frame. Knicks scored just 13 points over the final nine minutes as they forced tougher shots and had active hands from a steal standpoint. However, offensive rebounds (6 in first quarter) remained a major issue.

• Kristaps Porzingis is expected to return to the lineup after missing the past two games with a knee injury. He's averaging a career-best 25.5 points per game to lead the surprising Knicks to an above .500 record through their first 30 games.


• Offensive rebounding is going to be a big area of concern for the Celtics tonight as the Knicks have the fourth-best rebounding rate on the offensive glass in the league thanks to Enes Kanter, Kyle O'Quinn and Porzingis. Look for big minutes tonight from Aron Baynes and Daniel Theis to attempt to counteract this.


• The Celtics have lost four of their last eight games overall.


• The Knicks have one of the best home records in the NBA at 14-5 and have played more games on their home floor than any team in the league this year.


• Jaylen Brown was a late scratch with an Achilles injury.