Everything you need to know about the Celtics’ beating the Knicks 128-100 in BSJ Quickie Form
Box Score
HEADLINES
Offense stays hot as C’s win fourth straight: There hasn’t been a better offense in the NBA over the past 10 days than the Celtics and that trend continued on Thursday night against one of the worst defenses in the league. Kyrie Irving (22 points, 8 assists) led seven different Celtics in double figures as the hosts passed the 115-point mark in four consecutive games for the first time since December 1990. Al Horford also added his first double-double of the year with 19 points and 12 rebounds while the C’s shot 53 percent from the field.
Jaylen Brown looks sharp in return: The athletic swingman came off the bench in his first game in nearly two weeks and followed through on getting back to an aggressive mindset on the offensive end. He attacked the rim on his first four shot attempts of the game, scoring a team-high 12 points in the first half. The hard drives also produced lots of contact against a weak Knicks interior as Brown led the team with nine free throw attempts. With 21 points in 25 minutes, the Celtics couldn’t have asked for a better effort in what may have been Brown’s best outing of the season.
Aron Baynes suffers ugly ankle sprain: The backup center only last two minutes before landing awkwardly on his left foot while going up for a rebound. The big man immediately headed to the locker room and was quickly ruled out for the night with a sprained left ankle. His presence was missed on the defensive end against the traditional bigs in the Knicks frontcourt but the bigger concern now for the C’s is how long he is hobbled after landing with nearly 300 pounds of force on his foot. He’s already dealt with a hamstring injury this year, but the timing of the injury isn’t great as Boston’s defense has taken a step back in recent weeks.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics built an early lead in the first half that they held onto all night long, but a 10-2 run to close out the third quarter, capped by 3s from Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward pushed the lead up to 15 at the end of the frame. The visitors got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way as Boston improved to 2-1 in the season series in an affair that lacked much defense.
TWO UP
Al Horford: The All-Star big man has been a forgotten man for much of the season on the offensive end, but he came alive in the final three minutes of the second quarter, scoring 11 consecutive points for the C’s to help the hosts build a double-digit halftime lead. He finished with 19 points and his second double-double of the season, thriving inside without taking a 3-point attempt all night.
Kyrie Irving: The hot shooting continues for Irving, who has slowly but surely turned into one of more reliable passers on the Celtics roster 24 games into the season. He’s giving the game what it needs whether it’s his scoring (8 points in first quarter) or passing (5 assists in the second quarter), giving him close to what would have been his fifth double-double over his last ten games.
TWO DOWN
The Celtics’ defense: Celtics killer Trey Burke wasn’t even on the floor for this one, yet the Knicks’ offense had their way with the C’s for much of the night, they just couldn’t keep pace with Boston’s high-powered scoring attack. Whether it was Enes Kanter in the interior or allowing uncontested 3-point looks, this looked very little like the second best defense in the NBA. Brad Stevens has been worried about slippage on this front in the past couple weeks and Thursday’s effort over the first three quarters won’t help him feel better on that front.
Marcus Morris from deep: A little regression was expected for the sharpshooting veteran who came into the game knocking down 44.3 percent of his attempts from deep. However, it got ugly pretty fast against the Knicks as he missed his all seven shots from beyond the arc on the way to 5-of-13 shooting night.
TOP PLAY
That pass ? pic.twitter.com/nQpNktzNpW
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 7, 2018