Schoolin’ hard Knicks
NY lessoned by C’s
NEW YORK — Knicks coach David Fizdale talked before last night’s game of introducing his young players to their first backto-back experience.
And yet it was the Celtics who looked lost in a new experience after flying in from Friday’s loss in Toronto and arriving on the Madison Square Garden floor in a jet-weary state.
It took a Jayson Tatum turnaround jumper with 21 seconds left, after recovering his own missed dunk, to give the Celtics what they needed to escape with a 103-101 win over New York.
The second-year Celtics forward, who topped the team in scoring for a second time in three games, coolly hit two free throws with 7.9 seconds left and a Manhattan crowd howling. Tatum finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
However, Tatum then managed to foul New York’s Trey Burke well beyond the arc with 1.9 seconds to go. Burke missed the first of his three attempts, made the second and intentionally missed the third, allowing the Celtics to escape with the rebound and the win.
The Celtics started without Gordon Hayward due to what coach Brad Stevens described as “general soreness” coming back from last year’s leg injury. Then Aron Baynes went down with a hamstring injury, which prevented the center from coming out for the second half.
After the game, Stevens was asked about Baynes and said: “I have no update, but hamstrings scare me.”
The Knicks chopped the Celtics lead from 18 points to 50-48 by the end of the second quarter. From that point, the Knicks kept themselves even thanks to some particularly sticky and aggressive defense.
Kyrie Irving was 4-for14 when, with 4:54 left and the Celtics leading by six points, the guard was whistled for a charge. Tim Hardaway Jr. answered with back-to-back 3-pointers that tied the score at 89-89 with 4:12 left.
Out of a timeout, Irving immediately drove the baseline, was fouled by Enes Kanter, and converted both to take the lead back. This time Marcus Smart pressured Hardaway into a downtown miss, and Irving fed Al Horford for a 93-89 Celtics lead with 3:27 left.
Irving answered an empty two-shot Knicks possession by losing two defenders with a crossover drive and converting a three-point play with 2:51 left for a 96-89 lead.
Noah Vonleh scored for New York, Irving missed deep for the C’s, and Kanter scored off a tip-in. The Knicks center fouled out down the other end, though Smart was only able to hit one free throw for a 97-93 lead.
Lance Thomas hit twice from the line down the other end, cutting the Celtics lead to 97-95 with 1:16 left. Tatum split the lane with a tomahawk dunk off another Irving feed, Thomas answered with a 3-pointer, cutting the Celtics’ lead to 99-98 with 49.3 seconds left.
Tatum missed his next dunk attempt but chased down the ball, backed down to 15 feet, and buried the turnaround for a 10198 lead with 21 seconds left. Burke cut the C’s lead to 101-100 with 10 seconds left, but Tatum put the night to rest from the line.
Tatum’s 15-foot turnaround gave the Celtics a 77-70 lead at the end of an ugly quarter influenced by New York’s ability to contest every shot.
Terry Rozier opened fourth quarter scoring with a pull-up basket for a 79-70 lead, but it took a good three minutes before the Celtics started to regain a modicum of their first quarter form. Marcus Morris scored four points in a 6-0 run that gave the C’s an 85-75 lead with eight minutes left.