Celtics survive Knicks rally, pull away late for fifth straight win

BOSTON — The New York Knicks spent big this offseason to close the gap between themselves and the defending champion Celtics.

Well, they’ve now met three times during the 2024-25 campaign, and that gap remains as wide as ever.

Boston improved to 3-0 against its Atlantic Division rivals with a 118-105 win Sunday afternoon at TD Garden. The 13-point margin of victory was the slimmest of the season series, underscoring just how dominant the Celtics have been against a team expected to challenge them for Eastern Conference supremacy.

Jayson Tatum fell just short of what would have been his second straight triple-double, finishing with 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Jaylen Brown scored 11 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, helping Boston pull away after New York trimmed a 27-point deficit to four. Derrick White (19 points) went 5 for 6 from 3-point range. Kristaps Porzingis had three blocks and a steal; Jrue Holiday three steals and a block.

Karl-Anthony Towns registered 24 points and 18 rebounds for New York before part of the fourth quarter with an injury. Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart scored 22 and 20, respectively, for the Knicks, who lost by 37 to the East-leading Cavaliers two nights earlier.

It was the fifth consecutive win for the Celtics, who improved to 9-1 in their last 10 games, and ensured Boston would win a tiebreaker over New York if they finished with identical records.

The Celtics outscored the Knicks by 19 points during a dominant first quarter, doubling up New York in both field-goal percentage (60.8% to 30.9%) and 3-point percentage (44.4% to 22.2%). Porzingis and Holiday went a combined 7 for 7 from the floor — including three makes at the rim in transition — and were defensive difference-makers, with the former loudly rejecting a Josh Hart shot at the rim and the latter picking Brunson’s pocket just before the first-quarter buzzer.

Despite being the final Celtics starter to score in the game, Tatum racked up 10 points, five rebounds and three assists in the first quarter alone. He won his defensive battles against Towns and drew two early shooting fouls on OG Anunoby, one of New York’s top defenders. Anunoby and Hart both returned from injuries to play Sunday, allowing the Knicks to field their preferred starting five for the first time since Feb. 1.

Boston led 22-10 when Mazzulla made his first round of subs, sending in Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet en masse to join Tatum. New York fared no better against that second unit, and the Celtics took a 38-19 lead into the second quarter.

Knicks reserves Landry Shamet and Cameron Payne spurred a brief rally early in the second, cutting the Celtics’ lead to 11 while Tatum watched from the bench. But back-to-back makes by Jaylen Brown (turnaround jumper over Shamet) and Porzingis (straightaway three off a dish from White) swung momentum back toward Boston.

The Celtics outscored the Knicks 23-11 over the final seven minutes of the first half, culminating in a Tatum 3-pointer with two seconds remaining that made it 64-43. Tatum was a plus-27 in his 18 first-half minutes; every New York starter was a minus-15 or worse.

Towns and Mikal Bridges — the Knicks’ two marquee offseason additions — combined for just seven first-half points on 3-of-15 shooting, with neither getting on the board until more than halfway through the second quarter. Bridges, whom New York traded five first-round picks to acquire, has been a nonfactor in all three Celtics matchups this season. Eight of his 14 points Sunday came in garbage time, the Knicks were outscored by 23 points with him on the court, and he finished with no rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Consecutive 3s by Brown and Tatum put the Celtics up by 27 early in the third quarter. But the Knicks rallied, ripping off a 23-5 run to cut the deficit to single digits. Much of that came against Boston’s Tatum-and-the-subs lineup, which wasn’t nearly as effective in its second shift.

A 3 from Pritchard and strong work on the offensive glass from Kornet revived the Celtics’ offense late in the quarter, but Boston struggled to contain a suddenly hot Brunson, who scored 15 points in the final six minutes of the third. Towns also became much more assertive offensively. The big man scored 12 points in the third quarter, then opened the fourth with a 3 that made it a four-point game.

That, though, was as close as New York got.

“They made their run,” Porzingis said. “We wanted to make our run and not give them any hope that this game could slip out of our hands.”

White sank back-to-back threes to stop the bleeding, then lofted an inbounds pass that Porzingis threw down for a thunderous alley-oop. While the crowd was still buzzing from his slam, Porzingis then denied a Towns dunk attempt, sparking a fast break and a Brown layup. Brown proceeded to score nine straight Celtics points to help Boston pull away.

Towns landed awkwardly after Porzingis’ rejection and limped to the locker room. He later returned, but not until the Celtics had rebuilt an 18-point advantage. They led by 21 with less than two minutes remaining before three late Bridges buckets made the final scoreline a bit more respectable.

The Celtics will head out on a quick two-game road trip (at Toronto on Tuesday, at Detroit on Wednesday) before beginning a blockbuster seven-game homestand that features matchups with several of the NBA’s top teams. Cleveland, Denver, the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City all will visit Causeway Street between March 2 and March 12.

____