How Knicks stole Game 1 against Celtics in Eastern Conference Semifinals
In perhaps the most impressive win in modern Knicks basketball history, New York came back from 20 points down to beat Boston on the road, 108-105, stealing Game 1 in the second round and securing home court advantage.
It took a massive two-way team effort to accomplish it.
Let’s break down how the Knicks pulled it off…
Defensive masterclass
Head coach Tom Thibodeau pulled out all the adjustments for this series, and his team executed them to perfection.
Unsatisfied with how his team guarded Boston in the regular season, opening with mostly drop coverage then slowly experimenting with others, Thibs had his team switch most ball screens.
This gave the Celtics a bunch of favorable one-on-one matchups instead of putting the Knicks defense in a blender, pushing them away from their patented ball movement and advantage creation towards isolation basketball. While Boston has the talent to adjust, New York acquired specific personnel this offseason to make it tough, and they did just that.
OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, or "Wingstop" as they’ve aptly been nicknamed, had standout performances. They finished with four steals and two blocks between them, holding Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to a combined 46 points on 14-for-43 shooting, lobbing the head off the Celtics offense.
They were especially impressive in the second half and overtime, helping whenever Boston would attackJalen Brunson or Karl-Anthony Townsone-on-one, somehow digging into driving lanes and recovering in time to contest the Celtics' shooters. And when they needed to get timely stops, they made it happen.
Clutch execution
The Knicks have been a strong crunch time team, as evidenced in the previous round but put on full display in Game 1 in Boston. It starts with their Clutch Player of the Year, who helped lead the ferocious comeback with his shot making.
Brunson scored 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field in the third and fourth quarters. Halfway through the final period, Brunson laced three threes and a couple of free throws in under three minutes to give the Knicks a six-point edge.
Boston wouldn’t let him carry New York to victory that easily, and started sending soft doubles and much more attention his way. Brunson responded, getting inside to draw in the defense and spray out to Anunoby for a huge three with 90 seconds to play.
He also held his own defensively, putting in a big effort to bother Tatum and Brown on switches and seal Al Horford and other Celtics bigs as the low man. For all the clutch shot making, there was some serious clutch defensive playmaking as well.
Anunoby had a huge fourth quarter steal, Mitchell Robinson came in to shut down Tatum on a game-winning attempt, and Bridges came through with two steals in overtime — including the game-deciding one off the inbounds in the final seconds.
Flipping Boston’s strengths
The Knicks did an excellent job taking perceived strengths and preferences on the Celtics side and turning them on their head. Boston took advantage of ignoring Josh Hart offensively in the regular season, and he made them pay in Game 1.
Hart had 14 points and 11 rebounds on 5-for-9 shooting, which may not pop off the box score but doesn’t adequately capture his impact on this game. He was constantly pushing the Knicks tempo and finding good looks in transition, while helping slow down the Celtics’ offensive rebounding in the second half.
Boston’s big playing six feet off him? Hart would set off ball screens, and get involved in the action via a few variations of pick and rolls to constantly keep them on their toes.
The Celtics buried the Knicks from three all season? No problem. New York switched heavy to limit their offensive opportunities and force them into tough off-the-dribble threes in isolation — exactly the shot you want.
They shut down the paint and watched Boston panic from beyond the arc, shooting a ghastly 15-for-60 from three. Those long misses led to transition chances and had the Celtics questioning their offense.
It was a great approach and tremendous effort that caught Boston by surprise in Game 1, but it will take repeat performances to steal more than a game.
Let’s see if the Knicks can pull off another shocker when they face the Celtics again on Wednesday in Game 2.
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