Final: Celtics 103, Knicks 101 -- Tatum rescues Celtics down stretch

Jayson Tatum may only be in his second NBA season but he continues to assert his will as an emerging top scoring option during crunch time. The 20-year-old lifted a shorthanded Celtics past a feisty Knicks team on Saturday night in Madison Square Garden, scoring six of his game-high 24 points in the final minute of regulation to push the visitors to a 103-101 win.

The Knicks had one final chance to tie the game after Tatum's heroics in the final seconds after an ill-advised foul on a desperation 3-pointer by Trey Burke. The Knicks point guard missed his first free throw attempt though and the hosts failed to corral the rebound of a miss as time expired. 

Kyrie Irving added six of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to snap out of what was an ugly performance (5-of-18) over the first three frames. Tim Hardaway Jr. had a team-high 24 points for the Knicks, who hung tough with a Celtics team that was playing without Gordon Hayward (rest) and Aron Baynes (sore hamstring).

Third Quarter Notes

• Marcus Smart starts the second half in place of Baynes (hamstring) to provide more of a defensive presence.


• Al Horford headed to bench early with four fouls, which forced Brad Stevens to go deeper into his bench early with Guerschon Yabusele, Daniel Theis and Semi Ojeleye all seeing a few minutes.


• Kyrie Irving's offense continues to flounder for the second game this week. He's just 4-of-14 from the field through three quarters.


• Smart did a nice job drawing non-shooting fouls throughout the frame, which led to some much needed free throw opportunities in the penalty in the second half of the third quarter.


• Cs' defense has started keying in Knicks defense on the perimeter, holding them scoreless from the arc after a breakout third quarter.


• Overall ugly offensive basketball for both sides with a lot of fouling and lackluster shot sleection.

• Some ugly shot selection to start the second quarter for the C's as Jayson Tatum and Marcus Morris settle for midrange jumpers that are contested.


• Knicks offense is getting going thanks to the energy of rookie Alonzo Trier.


• Daniel Theis is still a step slow with rotations but he wasn't getting much help with this defensive unit. Irving, Morris and Tatum haven't been sharp defensively in this frame.


• Knicks open quarter up with a 10-0 run to make it a game again and close the deficit to five.


• Aron Baynes restored some order for the defense when he subbed back in for Theis but he left shortly afterwards after pulling up lame with a hamstring injury. He immediately went to the locker room after pulling himself out of the game, a troubling sign for such a tough player.


• Knicks continued to work their way back into the game on the back of their transition offense. Boston's small ball lineup is not getting back with the amount of effort that's needed, producing easy looks for the Knicks from the perimeter for Hardaway Jr, Trier and Dotson.


• Knicks close out the half with an 8-2 run to trim the deficit down to two. Celtics shoot a paltry 4-of-16 from 2-point range in the period and Irving has been very quiet (2-of-8 from field).

• Aron Baynes gets his first start of the season with Hayward resting and immediately helps the offense get going with eight points in the first six minutes.


• The Knicks' defense has not shown much resistance early on the second half of a back-to-back. C's open up 4-of-5 from 3-point range in the opening nine minutes.


• C's lockdown defense has been in  effect with the bigger lineup as the Knicks opened the game 4-of-16 from the field.


• Nice transition offense from the starters early, catching the defense before they get set.


• Al Horford doing a bit of everything early on with six rebounds and six points to start the game. His involvement with the offense has been underutilized to this point.


• Daniel Theis gets some bench minutes at center with Aron Baynes in the starting five.

• The Celtics will give Gordon Hayward the night off on the second half of a back-to-back due to left ankle recovery. He played 24 minutes against the Raptors on Friday night in Toronto and scored a season-high 14 points.


• With Enes Kanter looming as a true big in the middle, the C's are likely to go with a true big in Aron Baynes as a starter at center.


• The Celtics rank 26th in offensive efficiency through the first two games of the season in large part due to their inability to get to the free throw line. They rank 29th overall in free throw rate thus far, with Jayson Tatum serving as the only player averaging over two attempts per game.


• Slowing down Tim Hardaway Jr. will likely be priority number one on the defensive end this evening. The 26-year-old swingman has been red-hot during the first two games of the year, averaging 30 points per game.