The Celtics certain to finish in 7th place in the East, Brad Stevens keeps his holders warm for the ultimate meeting in New York. No Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier, Marcus Smart, Robert Williams or Tristan Thompson therefore, and the Knicks have a boulevard to validate their 4th place in the East.
Except that the men of Tom Thibodeau are hooked until the middle of the second quarter. Alec Burks connects two 3-point successes and RJ Barrett wins in power, before serving Nerlens Noel at the alley-oop.
Opposite, Payton Pritchard shoots in all directions, without success, and New York therefore goes to +15 (54-39) at the break. We feel that these Celtics are not used to playing together with huge communication errors in attack, and the Knicks do not have to be flamboyant to maintain their lead (77-65) after three quarters.
Except that by dint of not killing the match, New York is exposed and Brad Stevens finds energy in the replacements of his usual replacements. Jabari Parker shows attacking has never been his problem, Tremont Waters and Carsen Edwards are moving all over the place, and the locals take a big Celtic wave. From +17, the Knicks thus see the Celtics return to a small point (93-92) just over two minutes from the end …
New York plays Julius Randle in isolation to shift Reggie Bullock to 3-points but it is especially Nerlens Noel who will fold the game in defense, by making his presence felt to the Boston players.
The Knicks are doing without shining (96-92) but they ensure in any case the 4th place in the East at the end of this 72nd and last game of the regular season. They are therefore back in the playoffs for the first time since 2013, with home advantage. It will be against the Hawks, who will necessarily finish in 5th place!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN2UUcEKO3I
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