BSJ Game Report: Knicks 114, Celtics 107 - Encouraging signs from potential role players

Everything you need to know about the Celtics loss to the Knicks in their second preseason game, in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

With Boston’s top six guys sitting on the back-to-back, Boston’s reserves held their own against New York’s regulars in the first half of the game. They struggled shooting and they turned the ball over, but they still managed to put up 107 points overall, 85 points through three quarters before Payton Pritchard sat. Pritchard started slow, but he showed why he got his extension as the game went on. Dalano Banton attacked the rim with ferocity and Svi Mykhailiuk showed a little bit of everything. The Knicks won, but the Celtics reserves held their own.

Box Score

TAKEAWAYS

Let me just go down the box score to give my thoughts on everyone. 

Payton Pritchard: Led Boston with 21 points. He struggled with the Jalen Brunson assignment early and that impacted him on the offensive end, but once he got away from defending an All-Star-caliber player he got loose. That won’t be his assignment during the regular season, so I’m not worried about that too much. However, if he’s called on to start due to any kind of injury, this is the issue you’ll find. 

Dalano Banton: 20 points on 8-19 shooting, but 7-14 on 2-pointers mostly because he was getting to the rim almost at will. And a lot of that came against the Knicks regulars, so he was finding seams to get past shot blockers and physical defenders. Nice performance from Banton, though he’s going to have to dial in his shooting (1-5 3pt)

Svi Mykhailiuk: He made his preseason debut and put on a little show. He hit a few 3-pointers, which is what he’ll be asked to do. Catching alley-oops and putbacks, though, is not something I expected from him but there he was, flying high.

He certainly made an impression and it feels like he can maybe find a role on the deep bench. 

Lamar Stevens & Oshae Brissett: I’m lumping them together because the evaluation is the same. They made some nice defensive plays and attacked well but both are going to need to hit 3-pointers to stick around and carve out a role. Stevens was 1-5 from deep and Brissett was 0-4. If one or both of these guys can find their stroke from deep, they’ll really help. They rebounded well, though

Sam Hauser: Another tough shooting night for Hauser, who was 2-9 from the field (all from 3). After an oh-fer last night, he’s off to a slow start in the preseason. On the plus side, his defense has been decent so far, so he still managed to only be a -1 on a bad shooting night. Get all those misses out of your system in October, Sam. Eight rebounds is not a stat line I expect from Hauser, but Boston will take the rebounding wherever they can get it right now.

Luke Kornet: I thought he generally played okay on offense. He had a nice finish in traffic and three assists but his two rebounds are just not enough. He needs to rebound. The whole team needs to rebound better. 

Jordan Walsh: He had a little bit of baby deer quality to his game but I can see where this is going with him. He showed some nice defensive chops, with the signature play where he stripped Julius Randle and went the whole way for the tough layup. 

He’s definitely not ready quite yet, but I see where this is going and I like it. 

Neemias Queta: He’s big, so I’m interested in his longshot potential of contributing out of the two-way spot. Boston needs big, beefy dudes to set rib-shaking picks and rebound. I still doubt that he’ll be able to fill in any blanks in the frontcourt, but he showed some flashes of the necessary skills Boston is looking for. The fouls were tough. 

Wenyen Gabriel: He was moving at 1.5x speed while everyone else was at normal speed. He looked rushed and nervous in his eight minutes. 

JD Davison: Just 13 minutes but four assists. 

DJ Steward: Four minutes to remind us he exists. 

HERE ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS 

Next up: Boston and Philly do it again, this time in Philly, Wednesday night at 7