Knicks Pull Out Tough Win Against Celtics in Game One of Playoffs

The New York Knicks Dominated in the Fourth Quarter to Come Away With the Win

By Alexandra Georgette

Despite trailing Boston for the majority of the game, New York pulled out of game one of the first round of the playoffs with a win.  The Knicks beat the Celtics 85-78 in New York on Saturday.

AP Photo/ Kathy Willens

Carmelo Anthony finished the game with 36 points, four steals, and six rebounds.  He started strong, scoring 13 in the first quarter.  For the Celtics, Jeff Green shone:  in 46 minutes, he scored 26 points, pulled down seven rebounds, and blocked three shots—although he also had six turnovers.  Green’s big quarter was the second, where he scored 12 points.

The Celtics led by at least three at the end of each quarter, going into the fourth quarter.  In that last quarter, their offense broke down, and as a team they only scored eight points—the same number of points Anthony scored on his own in that quarter. 

One problem might have been the fact that Green only attempted one field goal and missed—when the leading scorer of the team only gets up one shot in the last quarter, you know something is wrong.

Boston has had a history of difficulties when it comes to closing games out, and that was definitely the case here. A win away would have put the team in much better position than they are now. 

On another note, the Knicks did not play very well on their home court and Boston came very close to winning (even without their most important player, Rajon Rondo, who is still out with a knee injury).  The Celtics were very close to a win and this might remind people not to underestimate Boston.

Paul Pierce chipped in 21points and seven assists (and also turned the ball over six times), while J.R. Smith scored 15 points off the bench for New York.  Brandon Bass pulled down a game high 10 rebounds and Raymond Felton scored 13 points and dished out six assists.

New York led Boston in two important columns in this game: offensive rebounds and turnovers.  The Knicks grabbed ten offensive rebounds and only turned the ball over 13 times—they also stole the ball 15 times.  The Celtics grabbed just four offensive rebounds and turned the ball over 20 times. 

In total, both teams had 40 rebounds and the Celtics led the Knicks 18-13 with assists, but these were just not enough for Boston to keep the lead.

Game two of the series starts at 8pm on Tuesday in New York— right now, the Knicks is the dominant team; if Boston wants any chance of going on to the next round, the team has to be incredibly focused and consistent.