Newcomer Hart now confident about postseason after Knicks blast Celtics
NEW YORK — It was a litmus test for the Knicks. A challenge of a new level.
And they aced it.
The opponent Monday night, the Celtics, entered with the NBA’S best record and a sense they can win the franchise’s first title since 2008. But the Knicks are on fire — a tour de force since acquiring Josh Hart — and they soundly won their sixth straight, 109-94.
The circumstances have the Knicks confident about the next level.
“We don’t want to make the playoffs. We want to make a run in the playoffs,” Hart said. “And I think we have the capability to do that.”
The victory moved the Knicks (36-27) to fifth in the East, leapfrogging the slumping Nets (34-26), who play at the Garden on Wednesday.
“[The playoffs] is something I’m very excited about,” Hart said. “It’s a team I think can make noise, a team that can make a run. And surprise some people.”
Against the Celtics (44-18), the Knicks took an early advantage and staved off every run threatening their easy victory. Boston never got closer in the fourth quarter and star Jayson Tatum was frustrated to the point of an ejection with 3:46 remaining. To his defense, Tatum was arguing an obvious foul that wasn’t called.
But Tatum also isn’t known for losing his cool. His walk of shame to the locker room triggered the MSG fans to erupt in a chant, “Boston sucks.”
Julius Randle and Immanuel Quickley led the Knicks offensively with 23 points apiece. Hart was again a sparkplug off the bench. The Celtics got nothing from Tatum, the MVP candidate who missed 12 of his 18 shots and finished with just 14 points.
Boston was on its heels immediately. Tom Thibodeau’s squad jumped out to a 20-point lead while holding the Celtics to their lowest scoring first quarter of the season.
After dispatching of the Jazz, Nets, Hawks, Wizards and Pelicans, Monday’s victory was the most impressive of the winning streak.
“Well, it shows you exactly where you are,” Thibodeau said. “So I think they’ve had a great season. They were in the Finals last year. They’re strong on both sides of the ball. You’re looking at a team that’s top five. They play hard, they play unselfishly. So it’ll show you, you have to play for 48 minutes against them.”
Some of it was also New York’s good fortune. Celtics All-star Jaylen Brown was absent for personal reasons, leaving an ineffective Derrick White (13 points, 4-of-11 shooting) as the starter.
Boston was also abysmal shooting Monday night, missing 33 of its 42 3-pointers. At one point the Celtics were 1-for-16 from beyond the arc.
Still, the Knicks deserve credit for contesting the jumpers and stepping on Boston’s throat.
“I think anytime you’re going against the Eastern Conference champion, they’re in the Finals, it’s a good test for us,” Thibodeau said. “We know we have a long way to go. There’s obviously areas we have to improve upon. We feel if we do the right things we’ll have a chance to win.”