BSJ Game Report: Celtics 114, Knicks 107 - 'Livid' Ime Udoka lights into team, Josh Richardson leads response

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics' 114-107 win over the New York Knicks with BSJ insight and analysis:

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics came out and worked their way up to a big early lead behind some hot shooting from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. They went into the half with a comfortable 15-point lead, but the third quarter was a disaster. They were outscored 41-24 and their lead turned into a deficit. However, Josh Richardson stepped up on both ends of the floor, shooting the Celtics back into it offensively and then stifling Kemba Walker on the defensive end to help the Celtics get the win. 

HEADLINES 

The lapses don’t stop: Every team is going to give up runs, and the Celtics are certainly not alone in having in-game lapses. However, they happen so often that at least one extended one per game is predictable. They simply can’t have these quarter-long meltdowns so often if they're going to be a good team. 

Richardson is finding his way: I’m certainly guilty of not following my own advice when it comes to Richardson. He’s shooting 12-20 from 3 in his last three games and 50% from deep this month. He’s up to 40.5% this season. Much more on Richardson coming up separately.

TURNING POINT

With the Knicks up 3 early in the fourth quarter, Richardson hit a pull-up jumper and a 3-pointer to retake the lead. Tatum added a jumper and Richardson drilled another 3 to finish off a 10-2 run to put Boston up 96-91. They never relinquished the lead once they took it back. 

SECOND GUESS

For the second straight night, I’ll question why Enes K. Freedom was on the floor, especially during Kemba Walker minutes. Walker is mister pick-and-roll and Freedom can’t defend that. The Celtics were lucky New York missed as much as they did early. I know there aren’t many options at the moment, but this one isn’t a good one. 

TWO UP

Josh Richardson: This is Josh Richardson day. 27 points (9-14 fg, 5-7 3pt), 5 rebound, 4 assists, 3 steals.

Payton Pritchard: He came into a rare opportunity this season and made the most of it with 16 points on 60% shooting. 

‘He stays ready, he's extremely hungry, he's always in the gym ready,” Ime Udoka said. “So you're not worried about his preparation or not being ready when the time comes. … I've seen him in high school win state championships. Watched him in college and have extreme confidence in him, knowing when he gets the opportunity, he's always going to be ready. SO it was good to see him do what he did, but not surprising.”

ONE DOWN

Aaron Nesmith: Tough one for him to miss everything. He started out the game with a couple of defensive mistakes and he spent a lot of time flying around as usual. His energy is fine. His effort is there. He wasn’t bad and I’m not going to overreact to missed shots, but he’s missed a lot of shots this season, and his job is to make them. He needs to make them. 

THREE SO/SO

Jayson Tatum: He seemed to settle for jumpers rather than let his attacking get him into a rhythm to hit from deep. Sometimes it feels like the worst thing for Tatum is to come out hot from 3, because once the first couple fall, he just keeps going to that.

Jaylen Brown: He drove, but it was almost sort of a half-hearted drive? It’s hard to say because he got into the lane, but then he got his shot blocked a lot. It was weird to watch. He and Tatum combined for 48 points and had some really good stretches, but then some very blah stretches as well. 

Robert Williams: He went up and caught some lobs as usual, he grabbed some rebounds, and he did prove to be somewhat of a bother at the rim. However, he bit on ball fakes, which sent the defense into a tailspin. He fouled too much, again. And generally, he’s reverted back to some bad habits for way too long this month. 

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

Here’s an alternate view of one of the most frustrating aspects of this team: The lapses are good for Ime Udoka to set the culture he wants for this team. 

Don’t get it twisted, I’d prefer the lapses didn’t happen. But if Udoka uses these lapses to light into the team and get them to follow his lead — it might just be a silver lining here. 

I present into evidence a third-quarter timeout with Boston’s lead slipping further and further away. Normally, a coach will congregate with his staff, put a play together, and try to find a way to get a stop and score. 

Instead, Udoka sat right down and tore into his players. 

“I was livid, honestly,” Udoka said of the time out, where he characterized the message as trying to wake his guys up. “We talked about what we did well in the first half, came out and did the opposite, for the most part. I felt we got a little cute there and relaxed up 15.” 

The Celtics managed to get things back under control, eventually. 

“He laid into us good. And that's what good coaches know they need to do sometimes,” Richardson said. “We were bleeding. We needed to stop it and it wasn't happening so we sat down and he let us have it, as he should have. 

“I think that was a good moment for him going forward. He kind of said in the locker room, I don't want to have to do that. But I was like, 'Nah, nah. We needed that.' I said that in front of everybody: That was good. We needed that."

People may expect a head coach to come in and always make an immediate impact and change everyone’s habits right away. Sometimes, they do. Sometimes, the habits that need changing are surface level. 

But it’s pretty obvious that the Celtics have some deep-rooted issues where they like to relax at certain times. It’s a horrible habit that, frankly, pisses everyone off. And while it’s understandable for people to yell “trade ‘em all” and find people who aren’t like that, it will be a whole hell of a lot easier on Brad Stevens if Udoka can tap into their brains and unlock something that fixes this. 

If all of this infuriating madness like the third quarter of this game turns into a long-term changing of attitudes, then it will be worth it. If Udoka’s unbending stance against the worst of his players’ habits wins out in this battle of wills, then the Celtics can focus on fixing actual basketball flaws in this roster. 

We’ll see how it pans out, but Udoka’s opportunities to snap his team back into focus are good ones for him as he grows into an NBA head coach.