In Game Three of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Boston Celtics (1-2) came out determined to prove their might. They drilled everything to bury the New York Knicks (2-1) under a 25-point halftime deficit—an all-time franchise playoff low. The ‘Bockers struggled to find a rhythm all game long, missed shots and free throws, and couldn’t keep up with the Celtics executing so well. Early in the second half, Boston pushed the lead to 31 before the Knicks showed a pulse and chipped the deficit down to 20 early in the fourth. They couldn’t get the stops needed to complete another impossible rally, and so they didn’t. Final score: 115-93.
Boston buried New York with a 20-for-40 barrage from deep while our gang bricked their way to 5-of-25. The Celts moved the ball better (23 assists to 16), protected the rim (eight blocks), and won the fast-break battle 18-8. The Knicks crashed the glass hard (43 rebounds, including 17 offensive), muscled up 48 points in the paint, and got to the line 35 times—but left 11 points there.
Five three-pointers ain’t gonna get it done.
For the visitors, Payton Pritchard led the scoresheet with 23 points off the bench, thanks to making 5-of-10 from deep. Jayson Tatum added 22 on 8-of-20 shooting, plus nine boards and seven assists. For New York, Jalen Brunson scraped together 27 points on 9-of-21 shooting, and Karl-Anthony Towns added a 21-point, 15-rebound double-double.
Quoth Jaybugkit: “Very tough loss. I hate matinee games.” Ditto that, brother—I had a bad feeling from the moment I saw the start time on the schedule. Still up 2-1, New York gets another chance on Monday.
First Half
Maybe you heard that Boston shot poorly through the first two games? That particular problem did not plague them to start this affair. The Beantown Bums hit 60% from the field and hit all three-point attempts by midway through the frame; meanwhile, New York had missed nine of 12 (including four from deep) to fall behind 17-8.
Boston, executing their game plan perfectly, went ahead by 16 in the period.
Once again, the Knicks didn’t find open shots easy to come by. Mikal Bridges attacked the rim early, though, and that was an encouraging sign from a guy who normally avoids contact. Off the bench, Mitchell Robinson contributed energetic effort for New York again, hitting the glass hard. He came into tonight shooting 3-of-11 from the charity stripe and would miss eight more tonight. Another airball tonight, too—but we still love him:
Josh Hart took a hard fall on his lower back and needed to rest it for a while on the bench. Feeling short-handed, head coach Tom Thibodeau sent in Precious Achiuwa to help in the final three minutes. It was Achiuwa, working alongside Mitch on the glass, who managed a put-back bucket as the buzzer loomed, but it was that marble-headed Payton Pritchard who hit a contested fall-back jumper as the clock expired to put Boston up 36-20.
It’s always distressing when this Knicks team, so loaded with offensive options, barely breaks 20 points in a quarter; it’s even more so in a semifinal game with the crowd at their backs and the Celtics on the ropes.
In the second quarter, Cameron Payne entered to give Jalen Brunson a break to so-so results. He made a bucket, missed on a three-pointer, and collected a foul in his four first-half minutes. We needed Brunson back for this:
Karl-Anthony Towns jammed his thumb again midway through the quarter but led New York on a mini-run, aided by OG Anunoby’s persistent defense and Josh Hart going hard to the cup. The injury was noticeable when he could reach only one hand for a defensive rebound, but he powered through to supply a few more highlights before halftime.
Nonetheless, the villainous visitors led at intermission, 71-46. ‘Twas the largest halftime deficit in the Knicks’ postseason history. The Celts had shot 55% from the field and 12-for-19 from deep, while your Knicks converted 40% and hit just 2-of-12 threes. Boston won the glass (24-19), shared the ball better (14 assists to seven), and blocked four shots. Our heroes held our own in the paint (24 points) and on the offensive glass (10) but left too many points at the line, hitting just 10-of-17 while Boston cleaned their plates (11-of-12).
Jayson Tatum had been a tad bum through the first two games, but through today’s first two quarters, he shot 5-of-10 from the floor, made 4-of-5 attempts from deep, and collected 14 points.
For the Knicks, Brunson and Towns had combined for 25 points; the other starters had 12 points between them. Did they have another ridiculous rally in them?
Second Half
Derrick White and Jrue Holiday hit triples and, within two minutes, New York fell behind by 31. After that, the Knicks showed some life with a mini-surge led by Brunson, Bridges, and Hart—Jalen floated one in, Josh flushed a fast-break dunk, and Mikal nailed a couple of smooth mid-range jumpers. OG Anunoby even got loose for a driving slam. Despite the effort, Boston’s steady shooting kept them firmly in control, 89–60, by the three-ish minute mark. By the end of the period, the score was 96-70.
New York lost the quarter by only a point, but outscoring the visitors by 26 points over the next 12 minutes seemed but a dream. The game wasn’t looking good, but this guy was:
Brunson wasted just seven seconds to hit a triple; Payton Pritchard matched it. Deuce McBride drained one. Jalen pestered Tatum into committing an offensive foul, then swished another longball to make the deficit 20 with 10 minutes left. A glimmer!
Timothée Chalamet cheering on the New York Knicks during their game against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden today.
pic.twitter.com/JuIz9PPYdf
— Timothée Chalamet Files (@tchalametfiles) May 10, 2025
To win, the Knicks would have to play flawlessly. They didn’t. Around midway through the quarter, Al Horford beat Mitch for an offensive rebound and put-back bucket, then stuffed Mitch at the other end. Out of respect, I won’t mention that he’s 100 years old, just that it was a bummer to watch the geezer outwork the younger Robinson. It’s not fair to single out Mitch, though; all the Knicks were a step slow and every glimmer of light was answered by the slam of a door. Towns cut the deficit to 20 with free throws at the four-ish minute mark. But Tatum hit a triple, at 3:30, to slam the door shut for a final time. Thibs finally relented and sent in the bench. Ballgame.
Up Next
These teams reconvene at the Garden on Monday night. Rest up, Knickerbockers.