BOSTON — If objects in the rear-view mirror are closer than they appear, it’s time for the Celtics to start watching their back.
Because the Knicks just stole Game 1 from underneath their feet. And now, what was supposed to be a dead series is very much alive.
And if you rinse the first three regular-season games from the record — or at least from memory — you have two overtime decisions: one that went the Celtics’ way with four games left in the regular season schedule, then Monday night’s 108-105 victory to open the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“We’re here and we’re just trying to play hard and win games. Obviously [those losses] in the regular season, we just had to learn from it and get better,” forward Mikal Bridges said after the game. “But we keep fighting. The last game of the regular season helped us. We were up three. It’s a lot of learning, but it’s the playoffs now. All that stuff’s out the window. You just have to go out there and win the game.”
And yet it looked, at least through three quarters, like the same-old song. The Celtics took advantage of the Knicks’ on multiple fronts, getting Karl-Anthony Towns into foul trouble with three early personals, then playing the Hack-a-Shaq game with Mitchell Robinson, who shot just 3-of-10 from the foul line to stifle an otherwise dominant defensive performance.
The Knicks responded with a 28-9 run to bring things close enough for Captain Clutch to help force overtime.
Jalen Brunson scored 29 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter alone and nearly won the game on a floater that banked ricocheted off the glass then off the rim. OG Anunoby also stepped up big with 29 points and six threes of his own.
“I felt like I had it going early, just trying to hunt for shots and get out in transition and run,” Anunoby said after the game. “Just trying to be aggressive and make the right play whether it’s passing it or shooting it.”
The Knicks, who walked into their second-round series as overwhelming underdogs to unseat the reigning champs, just got their first win over the Celtics all season — and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Because on paper, the Knicks and Celtics stack up alongside one another.
The Celtics are reigning champs built on a pair of All-Star wings, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Knicks hope to unseat them their own All-Star duo, Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Celtics get stops with a pair of all-world defenders, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. The Knicks have two of the best 3-and-D wings in all of basketball: Bridges and Anunoby.
But that is where the similarities end, and where the hesitance to believe the Knicks had a chance at the reigning champs seeps in deep. The Celtics have been there and done that. They have more reliable, tested depth than the Knicks. Plus they have the best player in the series.
Or at least they thought. Tatum shot just 7-of-23 for 23 points through four quarters and overtime, and Brown, too, finished with 23 points on 7-of-20 shooting from the field.
“Just forcing him into difficult shots,” Anunoby said of his matchup with Tatum. “He’s a great player. He’s gonna make some tough ones. So make him as uncomfortable as possible and see if he makes the shot. Make it as difficult as possible.”
The Knicks also held the Celtics to just 15-of-60 shooting from three-point range, a stark deviation from a regular-season trend that saw the Celtics pelt New York from downtown.
A key difference?
Kristaps Porzingis left the game in the second quarter with an illness, and Boston sharpshooter Sam Hauser was assisted off the court in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the Knicks shot 17-of-37 from downtown and weathered a 3-of-13 shooting night from Mikal Bridges. Bridges couldn’t find the bottom of the net, but he made a huge three in overtime and came up with a steal on Boston’s final offensive possession, then heaved the ball into the air as time expired.
“Yeah, just staying with it. I’d been missing a lot, a lot of shots that I’m upset with myself about missing,” said Bridges. “The basketball gods blessed me for just staying with it, because it banked. I don’t remember a time I banked in a corner 3. Yeah, just the basketball gods, man, just looking out.”
For a long stretch of Monday’s matchup between the two teams, the script looked familiar. The Celtics built a lead as large as 20 and were poised to run away with the series opener, and a blowout at home would have set the tone for more lopsided victories, just like the regular season.
The Knicks may have laid down and accept their fate during the regular season. With the stakes raised, New York punched back. But much like the 21-0 run the Knicks used in Game 1 of the first round against the Detroit Pistons, the Knicks ran the table against the Celtics on Monday.
The Celtics forgot the inscription at the bottom of their rear-view mirror: Objects that appear here are closer than they may seem, and the Knicks — who went 0-4 against Boston, 0-4 against Cleveland and 0-2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the regular season — may not be as far off as the world thought.
Maybe they’re not behind at all. The same 0-4 regular-season record that was wiped clean entering the second round now reads 1-0 in favor of New York.
Now, the Knicks have proof of concept. They have beaten the reigning champs once.
They can do it three more times.
Originally Published: May 5, 2025 at 10:14 PM EDT
