Celts score some revenge
Balanced effort key in victory
To hear most Celtics tell it, their Thanksgiving eve loss to New York was the nadir — the most uninspiring moment of an uneven early season.
Recent success and a nagging memory of that night dictated something different last night, as the Celtics responded with one of their most balanced scoring performances of the season.
Led by 22 points from Kyrie Irving and another 19 points and 12 rebounds from an offensively active Al Horford, the Celtics wiped away memory of that low point with last night’s 128-100 win over New York.
Jaylen Brown, in his return from a three-game back-related absence, opened with a 12point first half, attacked the paint, and finished with a sea- son-high 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting, including a teamhigh 7-for-9 from the line.
The Celtics had three players with 17 or more points by the end of the third quarter and, shooting a steady 55 percent against the Knicks, carried a 99-84 lead into the fourth.
Tatum was the only starter on the floor, though with Gordon Hayward, Brown and Terry Rozier also on the floor, the Celtics plowed through the early part of the fourth with an interesting offensive unit.
Tim Hardaway Jr., as always, tightened things down the stretch with five straight points, including a 3-pointer that cut the C’s lead to 107-95 with 7:30 left, prompting a Celtics timeout. Marcus Morris replaced Tatum, and immediately scored off a Hayward feed.
Irving and Horford returned to the floor with 6:19 left, with the former restoring order with a 15footer, followed by a Rozier 3-pointer for the C’s second 17-point edge (114-97) of the quarter.
The Celtics thus kicked into a game-deciding 11-0 run for a 120-97 lead with 2:43 left.
The Celtics opened the third quarter without Aron Baynes — felled by a left ankle sprain in the first quarter — and not exactly worse because of it. Horford scored the Celtics’ last 11 points of the second quarter for a 69-58 lead, and before long Horford drove for his 13th point and a 74-62 lead with 9:38 left in the third.
The C’s were in the midst of one of their most balanced scoring nights of the season, at this stage with four players scoring between 12 and 16 points, including three between 15 and 16.
And with Hardaway and Emmanuel Mudiay countering with a series of 3-pointers down the other end, the Celtics maintained their 55.1 percent pace from the first half.
Horford scored three more times in the third off a postup, two free throws and a cut for an 89-79 Celtics lead.
Irving then kicked off a late-quarter 8-0 run with a pull-up 3, staking the Celtics to a 99-84 lead.
The Celtics scored in waves in the first quarter, first with seven points from Tatum in one nine-point stretch, then with five straight from Irving, and then five straight from Brown.
The latter, coming off the bench in a regularseason game for the first time since his rookie season, immediately attacked with a threepoint play followed by another drive resulting in two more free throws.
The quarter ended at an old ABA pace, with the Celtics scoring 38 points on 60.9 percent shooting, and the Knicks 30 on 65 percent.
Brown continued his hot pace by opening Celtics scoring in the second quarter with his second threepoint play of the night. The wave carried on, with Rozier burying back-to-back 3-pointers for a 49-40 lead, and they continued to maintain that nine-point margin when Brown drove for his team-high 12th point of the night and a 53-44 lead.
The pace was too pure to continue on both sides, and after almost two scoreless minutes, the Knicks were the first to resurface with four straight points. Tatum then sandwiched a three and a finger roll around a Hezonja three-point play, and the Celtics regained traction when Horford scored the next 11 Celtics points, including two lobs from Smart.
Horford’s burst was good for a 69-58 halftime lead.