BSJ Game Report: Boston Celtics 99, New York Knicks 77 - C's bounce back behind Brown's triple-double

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics win over the New York Knicks with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Knicks were hot from 3 early, but the Celtics took advantage of a very physical second quarter to wear New York down and take a lead into the half. Boston exploded in the third quarter behind some good ball movement and built their lead out to 23 and they actually cruised in the fourth quarter.

Box Score

HEADLINES

Jaylen Brown notches first career triple-double: There was a calmness to his game. Nine of his assists came in the second and third quarters where Boston outscored the Knicks 55-34. 

Boston defense steps up: After giving up 26 points in the first quarter, the Celtics allowed 16, 18, and 15 points and held the Knicks to 75 overall points. The Knicks looked exhausted, but the C’s added to that with the ball movement, which proves the old adage of defending with your offense. Making the other team work hard on defense gives them less legs on the other end.

No let downs! The Celtics did not actually have any of their trademark letdowns. Each spot where I expected them to let down some and for the Knicks to make a run, the Celtics responded well the whole game. 

TURNING POINT

Marcus Smart stole the ball from RJ Barrett on the first possession of the third quarter, missed a layup, and then stole the ball from Mitchell Robinson after he rebounded the miss. That second steal led to a Jayson Tatum 3-pointer. 

That only made it a five-point game, but that was the tone-setter for the quarter. It also kick-started an 11-4 run to start the third, a quarter Boston won 32-18. 

FOUR UP

Jaylen Brown: Obviously one of his best games as a Celtic simply because there wasn’t a play out there in this game where he seemed to force anything. Everything he accomplished came to him naturally. This wasn’t a stat-chasing triple-double. This was the kind of triple-double where you can honestly point to a great performance in three phases of the game. 

Jayson Tatum: If he made one more 3-pointer he’d have shot 50% overall and from 3. He was hot early when the Celtics needed someone to hit some tough shots and then he saw the way the game was going and didn’t try to take over when it wasn’t necessary.

Robert Williams: Another really good defensive game from Williams, whose four blocks brought his total to 11 in the home-and-home series. The Knicks just don’t want to drive when he’s around.

Josh Richardson: Lost in the Brown triple-double was a crucial second-quarter stretch for Richardson where he scored 7 of Boston’s 23 points. That second quarter was a brutal, 90’s-level bar fight. Richardson and Williams were two huge reasons Boston took the lead

ONE DOWN 

Aaron Nesmith: I’m not going to get too down on him. He wasn’t bad. He just didn't hit shots and that's what Boston needs him to do. Mentioning him here a bit unfair for sure, but also, that's the position he’s in.  

TOP PLAYS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

This is the ball movement the team is capable of all the time. 

Let me start with this: The New York Knicks were awful for most of this game and they were certainly complicit in a lot of the things that went well for Boston. Some of the things the Celtics were able to do in this game would not have worked against, say, the Golden State Warriors. 

But the ball movement they exhibited is something they should be able to replicate against anyone. Take, for example, that first of the top plays, where Al Horford passed up a 3-pointer to drive and get it to Brown for the layup. 

"It was a big part of our film session today, looking at the New York game especially in the fourth quarter where we could have drove some closeouts with five seconds on the shot clock and not just settle for that 3," Udoka said. "It was an emphasis to drive those and not always settle. We want to take more uncontested shots and we know if we cause that penetration, Robinson is going to step up to defend the paint and we'll have dropoff or kickouts. You talk about good to great and passing up decent shots to get a better one and that was very evident tonight."

That attitude -- the passing up good shots to get great ones -- is an attitude that needs to take hold in that locker room. All too often, Boston just hucks up 3-pointers without moving the ball, driving, and exploring for better ones. Here's an example: 

Smart took that shot with :13 on the shot clock. It's an open corner 3-pointer, a very desirable shot in the NBA. But there's more to this play than that. 

Boston had just made two great plays for layups, including that Horford play to Brown. The Knicks defense will overreact if Smart drives, so there is a chance here for Smart to attack just like Horford did and seek out an even better shot, like a dunk for Horford or Robert Williams. 

If neither of those present themselves, Jaylen Brown would have dropped to the corner and the Celtics would have just gotten a corner 3 on the other side from a higher percentage shooter. 

The Knicks actually scored the next four points of the half and I was worried that this spot was going to be a turning point for another bad loss. Instead, it's a great example of how the Celtics mentality has to become more moving the ball rather than taking the first "good" 3-pointer they can get. 

That Smart play at the end didn't cost Boston as much as it could have because the Knicks were terrible tonight and the Celtics in the third quarter really turned up the ball movement and they put the game away. Boston's offense is going to struggle if they rely on shots just falling, but if they move the ball like they did in this one, especially in the third quarter, they will give themselves better chances to win more games.