< Jayson Tatum
scores 24 points and grabs 14 rebounds to lead the Celtics to a 103-101 win over the Knicks in New York.
New York — Jayson Tatum had 24 points and 14 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics withstood his careless foul with 1.9 seconds left to beat the New York Knicks 103101 on Saturday night. Tatum had just given the Celtics a three-point lead with two free throws with 7.9 seconds left and the Knicks called their final timeout. They had trouble getting the ball inbounded from the sideline, and Knicks guard Trey Burke had to race into the backcourt to retrieve it as the clocked ran down. He pulled up for a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc and Tatum jumped to contest it, fouling Burke for three free throws that could have tied it.
But he missed the first and the Knicks couldn't grab the rebound when he intentionally missed the third.
Kyrie Irving and Marcus Morris each added 16 points for the Celtics, who rebounded from their loss in Toronto on Friday night. They won despite giving Gordon Hayward a night off to rest his surgically repaired left ankle.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 24 points for the Knicks, who lost rookie Kevin Knox to a sprained left ankle in the first quarter. Enes Kanter had 17 points and 15 rebounds before fouling out of their second twopoint loss in two nights.
The Celtics are considered one of the Eastern Conference favorites but coach Brad Stevens said the Raptors were clearly better now and Boston needed to improve after Toronto's 113-101 victory Friday night.
The Celtics looked sharp early in racing to a 26-10 lead Saturday and still had a double-digit cushion midway through the second quarter before Damyean Dotson's second straight 3-pointer trimmed it to 5048 by halftime.
Boston seemed to be regaining control early in the fourth quarter but again the Knicks came back, tying it at 89 on consecutive 3-pointers by Hardaway.
But Irving had five points and an assist in a 7-0 burst that put the Celtics on top again and they held on from there, with Tatum hitting a tough turnaround jumper with 21 seconds left and missing a dunk earlier in the possession.