The New York Knicks have no answer for the Boston Celtics. Despite them missing Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks could not capitalize and got smoked in front of their home floor Saturday night 131-104. New York falls to 34-18 on the season while Boston improves to 37-16.
The Celtics’ three-point barrage was too much for the Knicks
In eerily similar fashion to the Opening Night slaughtering, the Knicks were gashed by the Celtics’ lights-out shooting. Boston shot 48.7% (19-for-39) from three, including seven from Jayson Tatum, who lit up the Knicks for 40 points.
Without their best wing defender in OG Anunoby, the Knicks had virtually no way of containing the perimeter. As a result, the Celtics had their way from outside the arc and made it look too easy for them.
In comparison, the Knicks were unable to match that same offensive intensity. They shot just 42% from the field overall and only made nine three-pointers. The lack of shooting prowess from them was a catalyst in their lopsided defeat.
Precious Achiuwa and Karl-Anthony Towns struggled against the Celtics
Starting in place of Anunoby for the third straight game, Precious Achiuwa badly struggled against the Celtics. He finished with just three points, four rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes, and was a team-worst -37 on the night.
Defensively, Achiuwa had major lapses both inside the paint and out on the perimeter. Particularly, he was on the wrong side of a highlight play twice in the first half, getting dunked on by Tatum early in the first quarter and getting crossed over by him in the second quarter.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau would wind up benching Achiuwa to start the second half in favor of Miles McBride. What resulted was a run that quickly saw the Knicks cut the deficit to just three, but Boston turned it back on and instantly went back up 19, a lead that was never close to being squandered by the Knicks.
Karl-Anthony Towns did not do much to help pick up the slack, as he finished with just nine points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes. The rebounding was a massive problem for the Knicks, as they were unable to contain Luke Kornet, who started in place of Porzingis and finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. His efforts helped Boston dominate the rebound battle 48-30 over New York.
Overview
After winning seven of their previous eight contests, the Knicks were embarrassed by Boston for the second time in as many meetings this season. The team needs to get healthier after the All-Star break, or else they will have many other games like this one. New York’s next meeting is set for Tuesday night against the Indiana Pacers on the road.