BSJ Game Report: Knicks 131, Celtics 129 (2 OT) - Another long drought kills the 3-point happy Celtics

Everything you need to know about the Celtics' loss to the New York Knicks, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL 

The Knicks came out hot behind some tough shot-making from RJ Barrett and Julius Randle, but Jayson Tatum got it going late and the Celtics held an 11-4 edge in second-chance points to lead after 1. The teams went back and forth in the 2nd, but Boston closed on an 11-0 run to take a 7-point lead into halftime. The Celtics got the lead up to 14 halfway through the third, but went through another massive collapse that saw them down 11 a few minutes into the fourth. Both teams exchanged runs after that but Jaylen Brown came up with big plays to send it into overtime. Al Horford hit a big 3-pointer in the first OT, but missed a potential game-winning 3 in the second one. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

Another ugly stretch: The Celtics went through another rough stretch where they quickly went from up 14 to down 11. They fought back so, yes, they deserve the credit for not folding, but they now have had two games where they not only gave up leads, but looked like hot garbage in the process. Immanuel Quickley carved them up. 

Bombs away: Joe Mazzulla called 3-point attempt rate the most important stat in basketball, and they followed his lead by bombing 59 3-point attempts, a franchise record. This is the 10th time they’ve taken 50 or more 3-pointers in a game, doubling the amount of times they’ve done it in franchise history. Funny enough, the previous record of 57 was in a double overtime loss to the Knicks. 

Worst case scenario: The Celtics are on a plane to Cleveland for a Monday night back-to-back. There will be no Robert Williams (out for about 7-10 days with the hamstring strain), no Horford on the back-to-back, and possibly no Malcolm Brogdon (he missed the last two games with ankle soreness). Tatum, Brown, and Horford all played more than 45 minutes. Grant Williams played 44:30. Marcus Smart played 39:16. Tough to go through all that and still lose. 

TURNING POINT

I can point to the early offensive rebounds in the second overtime that put the Knicks up 5, but really the game turned in that 25-point swing from the middle of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth where Boston went from up 14 to down 11 in just a matter of minutes. 

“We kind of have a lead, we feel good about it, a team makes a run and we just kind of let them back in the game,” Horford said. “We kind of go in a rut, seem like we can't get out of it. We have to stay the course, and I feel like we'll be fine. But definitely, it's not pleasant to go through this right now.”

SECOND GUESS

Mazzulla keeps changing between Tatum and Brown when it comes to who plays the whole first quarter and who sits halfway through and starts the second quarter. I’d like to just see a rotation set at this point. 

THREE UP

Al Horford: 20 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and some big shots throughout this game. Yes, the potential game-winner fell short, but it was a great look and he says he just rushed it a little because of the defense. 

Jaylen Brown: He saved the Celtics at the end of regulation with his 3-point play and steal. He had 4 steals overall and a blocked shot to go along with 29 points on 48% shooting. Somehow on a night where 3 guys took 10 or more 3-pointers, Brown only took 5. 

Jayson Tatum: I actually didn’t want to put him up here but a 40-point, 11-rebound, 6-assist game is too much to leave off. He tailed off in the game and was 0-3 from 3 in the overtimes. Boston overall was 2-10. 

THREE DOWN 

Marcus Smart: He hit some big shots late in the game, but 4-13 shooting and 3-11 from 3 is not good enough … especially when you commit 5 turnovers and foul out of the game. 

Grant Williams: He did a great job on Julius Randle defensively, so I have to make sure I include that. But it also felt like most of the passes he threw were either deflected or stolen, and he fouled a lot. He looked hesitant on some of his shots but he finally made one with confidence and I thought it could get him on track, but it did not. 

Sam Hauser: Just 1-4 from 3 and he was targeted defensively. He was a -16. I suppose another second guess would be why Mazzulla left Hauser out there as much as he did, but it’s not like Mazzulla would have gone to Payton Pritchard or anything. 

TOP PLAYS

THREE TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- The missed layups were killers

Boston was 19-35 from the restricted area in this game, 54.3% overall and 12% below league average. They could have had 8 more points if they just shot league-average at the rim. 

Expand that out to the rest of the paint, where they were 2-12 in non-restricted area shots, and the Celtics missed 26 shots from the most desirable place to be. 

Some of those misses were bad rim-reads, where the shots were highly contested and should have been passes. Some of them were just flat out misses.

The Celtics had a 3-point shooting variance kill them in New York and a rim shooting variance kill them here. There's a lot going wrong right now.     

- Enough complaining about the timeouts

Tom Thibodeau was getting praise for calling a timeout after Horford’s 3-pointer cut New York’s fourth-quarter lead from 11 to 9. It came a minute after a Boston timeout and was the first sign of life from the Celtics in a while. 

Boston outscored New York 10-2 after the timeout. 

It’s not to say there aren’t times to call one that Mazzulla passes on, but it’s getting tiresome to continue with the complaints at this point. Timeouts don’t always work. 

And I think we saw some growth in that regard anyway tonight with the last play of the game. The Celtics were screwing up the final play and he called a timeout to get everyone settled and set up. Sure, Horford missed, but that's the exact kind of timeout I’ve been asking for. 

He’s figuring it out. 

- 3-point shooting is out of control

I’m officially at a point where the league has to do something. I don’t want to watch teams put up 50-plus 3-pointers every night. 

Move the line back and make it a tougher shot. I’m tired of watching everyone shoot these things. Tatum shot 6-17 from deep tonight. 

SEVENTEEN ATTEMPTS!!! 

I’d just like to get to something beyond all the bombing. It’s not fun. 

Next up: The Celtics face the Cavs tomorrow night in Cleveland