The Celtics look for their 5th straight road win as they travel to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks. This is just the 2nd of 4 meetings between these two teams this season. The Celtics beat the Knicks 132-109 on opening night in Boston. They will meet again on February 23 in Boston and for the second time in New York on April 8.
Last season, the Celtics won the series between these two teams 4 games to 1. They won 2 games in Boston and won 2 games in New York and their only loss to the Knicks was one of the Celtics 4 losses in Boston. The Celtics are 305-190 overall all time vs the Knicks and they are 140-121 in games played at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks made moves this offseason with the goal of matching up better with the Celtics. In Mikal Bridges, the Knicks added a wing defender who can counter the Celtics All Star wings and who can also spread the floor. With the addition of Karl-Anthony Towns, they have addressed their weakness at center. Towns can match up with the Celtics centers and can also hit the three, having won the 3 point contest in 2022. Neither team made big trades at the deadline. The Celtics traded away Jaden Springer and signed free agent Torrey Craig while the Knicks traded Jericho Sims to Milwaukee for Delon Wright and cash.
The Celtics remain 2nd in the East. After their loss on Thursday and Cleveland’s win on Friday, they are 6 games behind 1st place Cleveland. They are 1.5 games ahead of 3rd place New York and 6 games ahead of 4th place Indiana. They are 20-6 on the road and 7-3 in their last 10 games. They are 26-9 against Eastern Conference teams and 6-2 against the Atlantic Division. After winning 4 straight, they lost their last game.
The Knicks are 3rd in the East, 7.5 games behind first place Cleveland. They are 1.5 games behind Boston, making this a must win for the Celtics. They are 4.5 games ahead of 4th place Indiana. The Knicks are 18-9 at home and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They are 23-10 against Eastern Conference opponents and 9-1 against the Atlantic Division. They have won their last 2 games.
The Celtics are on the road again after one home game following a 3-0 road trip with wins over New Orleans, Philadelphia and Cleveland. They lost their lone home game to the short handed Mavericks. After this game at New York, they will travel to Miami for one game and then back at home to face San Antonio, who just traded for DeAaron Fox. They then have a much needed All Star Break.
The Knicks last played on Tuesday and so should be well rested for this game. After this game they will play at Indiana and home vs Atlanta before the All Star Break. After the Break, they will host Chicago before playing at Cleveland and at Boston before hosting Philadelphia. Next up are games at Memphis and Miami and one game at home against Golden State before a 5 game Western road trip.
Jrue Holiday missed Thursday’s game against the Mavericks and has already been ruled out for this game due to a shoulder impingement that has been bothering him for awhile now. I’m going to guess that Al Horford will once again get the start. Newly signed Torrey Craig is listed as questionable as it isn’t certain that he will be ready to play by this game.
For the Knicks. two starters are listed as probable. Josh Hart (knee) and Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) are both probable for this game. Pacome Dadiet will miss his ninth straight game due to a toe sprain. Mitchell Robinson has not yet made his season debut while recovering from the surgery on his left ankle last May. He has been cleared for contact but will not play in this game. OG Anunoby missed the last two games for the Knicks with a sprained right foot and is doubtful for this game.
Probable Celtics Starters
PG: Derrick White
SG: Jaylen Brown
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Al Horford
C: Kristaps Porzingis
Celtics Reserves
Sam Hauser
Luke Kornet
Payton Pritchard
Neemias Queta
Baylor Scheierman
Torrey Craig
Xavier Tillman, Sr
Jordan Walsh
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Anton Watson
Injuries/Out
Jrue Holiday (shoulder) out
Torrey Craig (not injury related ) out
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Probable Knicks Starters
PG: Jalen Brunson
SG: Mikal Bridges
SF: Josh Hart
PF: Precious Achiuwa
C: Karl-Anthony Towns
Knicks Reserves
Delon Wright
Cameron Payne
Miles McBride
Tyler Kolek
Landry Shamet
Ariel Hukporti
2 Way Players
Jacob Toppin
Kevin McCullar, Jr
Matt Ryan
Injuries/Out
Mitchell Robinson (ankle) out
Pacome Dadiet (toe) out
OG Anunoby (foot) doubtful
Josh Hart (knee) probable
Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) probable
Head Coach
Tom Thibodeau
Key Matchups
Derrick White vs Jalen Brunson
Knicks’ All Star Jalen Brunson was 5th in MVP voting last season. He is averaging 26.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 7.5 assists while shooting 48.9% from the field and 39.7% from beyond the arc. In the first game against Boston, Brunson had 22 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists while shooting 64.3% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. With Jrue Holiday out for this game, it will be up to Derrick White to try to slow him down.
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Kristaps Porzingis
Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Karl-Anthony Towns
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
Kristaps Porzingis vs Karl-Anthony Towns
Towns will give the Knicks a strong presence in the paint along with the ability to spread the floor. Towns is averaging 24.3 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. He is shooting 53.2% from the field and 42.3% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics, he finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. The Celtics need to stay with Towns both in the paint and on the perimeter and they have to box him out on the boards.
Honorable Mention
Jaylen Brown vs Mikal Bridges
Bridges is a good 2 way player who can slow down the Celtics star wings and also make them work on the defensive end. Bridges is averaging 18.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1 steal per game. He is shooting 49.4% from the field and 36% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics, he finished with 16 points and 2 assists while shooting 53.8% from the field and just 28.6% from beyond the arc.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense is the key to winning every game. The Knicks average 117.9 points per game (4th) while the Celtics average 117.3 points per game (6th). The Celtics have a defensive rating of 110.0 (5th) while the Knicks have a defensive rating of 113.2 (13th). Both teams want to be defensive minded but both teams forget their defensive identity from time to time. The Celtics have got to make defense a priority and play tougher team defense than the Knicks if they hope to get a win in this game.
Rebound – The Celtics can’t score if they don’t have the ball, and the best way to get the ball is to grab rebounds. The Celtics need to rebound as a team with every Celtic battling on the boards. It will take a team effort to beat the Knicks on the boards. The Celtics are 11th with 44.8 rebounds per game and tend to get lazy against physical teams that fight for rebounds. The Knicks are 8th with 14.8 second chance points per game and so the Celtics need to crash the boards to prevent giving the Knicks extra points in this game.
Move the Ball Carefully – The Celtics need to move the ball and find teammates for the best shots available. They play their best when the ball is moving and they are finding the open man. They struggle when the ball sticks and players try to do too much and play iso ball. The Celtics are 27-1 when they have more assists than their opponent. However, they need to make careful passes because the Knicks average 19.9 points off turnovers per game (2nd) and if the Celtics get sloppy, they will make them pay.
Play All Out 48 Minutes – When the Celtics have lost this season, it is usually because they weren’t playing as hard as their opponents. They can’t afford to allow the Knicks to play harder than them if they want to win this game. They have to play hard from the opening tip until the final buzzer and not allow the Knicks to out-work them for any stretch during the game. If the Celtics lose this game, they are just half a game ahead of the Knicks for 2nd place in the East. The Celtics must out-work the Knicks in order to win.
X-Factors
On the Road Again – The Celtics are playing on the road once again, where they are playing better than they are at home. They need to overcome the distractions of playing on the road and in front of a hostile crowd and stay focused on playing the right way. They have to come out playing hard right from the beginning to keep the Knicks’ crowd from getting into the game.
Officiating – Officiating always has the potential to be an x-factor. Each officiating crew calls the game differently. Some refs call it tight and constantly call fouls while others let them play with few fouls called. Some refs just make terrible head-scratching calls. The Celtics need to adjust to how the refs are calling the game and not allow bad calls or no calls to take away their focus.
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