Knicks shake off Celtics to advance
First time since 2000 N.Y. in second round
BOSTON— Twelve years without advancing in the playoffs. Two failed attempts to close out the Boston Celtics. Nineteen consecutive missed three-pointers.
Carmelo Anthony brought all the slumps to a stop.
Anthony made a pull-up jumper and then sank his first three-pointer in 20 tries to help the New York Knicks turn back Boston’s comeback attempt on Friday night, beating the Celtics 88-80 in Game 6 to win a playoff series for the first time since 2000.
“You should never play with any doubt out there on the basketball court,” Anthony said. “I can’t step onto the court thinking of failure. When you start second-guessing everything, when you start playing with doubt . . . I can’t afford to play under those circumstances.”
Anthony scored 21 points and the Knicks held on after blowing most of a 26-point lead to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Indiana Pacers. Game 1 is Sunday in New York. Iman Shumpert scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, when the Celtics scored 20 straight points and cut a 75-49 deficit to four points. But Anthony made a 13footer to give New York an 81-75 lead and followed with a 3-pointer — his first since Game 3.
J.R. Smith converted a three-point play to restore the double-digit lead the Knicks had nursed most of the game.
“There’s definitely a moment in that run that I was thinking, ‘What are we doing?’ ” said Knicks centre Tyson Chandler, who had nine points and 12 rebounds. “It’s such a great learning experience when you get a win. It’s tough when you get a loss.” Jeff Green scored 21 points for the Celtics, who had rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the series and had a chance, at home, to force a decisive seventh game. No NBA team has advanced in the playoffs after losing the first three games. Paul Pierce scored 14 points on 4-for-18 shooting, making one of nine three-point attempts. Anthony also struggled from in- and outside the arc, going 7-for-23 from the floor and missing his first four three-point attempts — that was 19 in a row in the series — before sinking the key basket with 1:43 to go. The Knicks had not won a playoff series since Patrick Ewing and La- trell Sprewell (and current backup centre Marcus Camby) helped them reach the 2000 Eastern Conference finals. “It’s a major step for this organization, for our fans in New York who’ve been with us for many, many years,” Woodson said. “I’m looking at the big picture and I’m only in this for one thing and that’s to try to win an NBA title. We made a major step today, but we’ve got a long way to go.” Kevin Garnett had15 points and10 rebounds for the Celtics, who now face another off-season of talk whether to break up the aging core that won the franchise’s record 17th NBA title in 2008 and returned to the finals two years later. Reserve Jason Terry scored 14 points — the only points the Celtics got from their bench.