BSJ Game Report: Knicks 105, Celtics 95 - Late rally can't erase nightmare second quarter

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

IN A NUTSHELL

Hot shooting and great paced fueled an eight-point first-quarter lead for Boston, but that quickly fell apart. They were out-scored 42-14 in the second to head into the break down 20. The Celtics won a sloppy third quarter and cut it to nine late in the fourth, but could get no closer.  

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Rebounding issues: We knew games like this were coming, but it still doesn’t make it easy to watch. The Celtics gave up 21 offensive rebounds and they couldn't really make up for it on the other end. They lost the second-chance points battle 21-7 and it could have been much worse. 

- Disaster second quarter: The Celtics gave up runs of 11-0, 17-0, and 12-0 in the second, which is almost unheard of. The Celtics did everything wrong. They shot 4-18, they had six turnovers for 13 Knicks points, and they allowed seven offensive rebounds to get outscored 12-0 on second chance points. The Knicks shot 50% and went to the line 12 times without a miss. It was the single worst quarter, in terms of point differential, in Celtics history. 

- Hugo Gonzalez impresses: Joe Mazzulla turned to him early, and he impressed with his energy and defense. He was a +7 in a game Boston trailed by 24 and lost by 10. 

TURNING POINT

Pick a run, any run in the second quarter. I’ll go with the 17-0 run because that turned Boston’s early three-point lead into a 14-point deficit. Even though Boston made a late run, this is where the Knicks took full control of the game.

THINGS I LIKED

Hugo Gonzalez: My favorite thing from Gonzalez came after the game, when he was asked how he became a good defender, and he said “Jalen Brunson dropped 30 points today, so it’s not the day to say I’m a great defender.”

I love it. Gonzalez has shown a tremendous feel for the game, and his competitiveness is off the charts. I’m driving the Gonzalez hype train. This kid is going to be really good.

Sam Hauser’s shooting: He shot 6-10 from 3. The rest of the Celtics were 9-34. I wanted Hauser to shoot more, especially early when it was clear he was the only one hitting. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

Rebounding: I don’t know what else to say, but I do know it still needs to be discussed. The Celtics don’t need to be a good rebounding team, they just can’t be the worst. And this looked like the worst rebounding team of all time. Teams are going to crash hard against the Celtics now because they know rebounds are available. This will only get worse if the Celtics don’t do something about it. The Celtics grabbed more rebounds overall in the first quarter (15) than they did the rest of the game (14).

Payton Pritchard: He did other things, like get five rebounds and dish six assists, but he is in a big-time shooting funk. He has opened the season with a pair of 1-7 games, which followed an 0-8 final preseason game. If you count his preseason games, he’s 7-35 over five games, which is just 20%. 

I’m not going to overreact, but the grumblings of whether he should start or come off the bench will start soon if he doesn’t pull out of this. 

Jaylen Brown: He basically talented his way to 23 points. The box score will say 23 points, four rebounds, three assists, but the seven turnovers were a big problem, and he didn't look right for most of the night. 

Derrick White: A rare appearance here for White, but he didn’t seem to be himself at all. He shot poorly (5-18 fg, 3-11 3pt), and I think he let that rattle him a bit. 

The Margins: The Knicks took more shots and more free throws. They had more offensive rebounds and assists. They scored more points off turnovers, even though Boston had fewer turnovers overall. They won most margins, which simply can’t happen if Boston wants to win these games. 

Where was Josh Minott?: There wasn't a single minute for him to play in this game? I don't think there was simply no use for him at all. There had to be more to this. 

HIGHLIGHTS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Don’t overreact to Gonzalez playing well: I cannot stress enough that the most important thing for him is a proper development plan, so I don’t care if he plays in Maine or with Boston. Whatever the best way to for him to develop into a great player next season and beyond this season ends up being, that's what the Celtics should do. 

Maybe he is just part of the rotation. Maybe they mix in some games in Maine to keep him sharp at times they know he might not get much NBA time. Maybe he is in Maine full time. I don’t know what the final plan will be. 

But whatever the plan is, it should not be influenced by him maybe helping the Celtics win a couple more games this year. That's not the most important thing. He needs to develop and grow as a basketball player this season. 

I’ve spent the past couple of months feeling like Gonzalez is going to be a hit for Brad Stevens. That happening would be a massive help as the Celtics navigate their finances moving forward. 

- The Celtics will get crushed every time their offense struggles. 

There is one indisputable truth about this team: They have to do most things right to win games this season. 

They don’t have the talent to be lazy, mess around, and steal games late in the fourth quarter. They can’t blow the margins and lean on one superstar to bail them out. They have to get most things right if they want to win. 

“There's an expectation to win, but it's to win by the process of doing what we need to do,” Joe Mazzulla said after the game. “That's a high, high standard. And to me, you can't budge on that. They're going to make mistakes, and that's okay, but they got to be mistakes of aggression and mistakes of opportunity, not mistakes of not playing hard.”

As I’ve said, the preseason was such garbage that this is just a continuation of the process of getting to where Mazzulla wants them to be. This opening stretch was always going to be hard. But there's a formula to winning these games, and they have to do it for the full 48 minutes.

If their offense is good, then they can mask some of these other deficiencies and still have a chance. Their offense is going to have to carry them through this early stretch until they figure things out. 

And we can argue, again, that if a couple of guys have normal shooting nights, that maybe Boston is 2-0, or at least 1-1. But that hasn’t been the case, which is part of why they're 0-2. 

The less they do other things they're trying to do, the more important the one thing they can generally do well … make baskets … becomes.

Next up: The Celtics road trip continues Sunday afternoon at 3:30 in Detroit.