Jayson Tatum knew he didn’t play to his standard in Tuesday’s season-opening Celtics loss.
He atoned for that Friday against the reigning NBA champions, leading Boston to a 107-103 win over the Knicks in its home opener at TD Garden.
After going an ugly 6-for-23 from the field against the Detroit Pistons, Tatum poured in 36 points on 14-of-26 shooting against New York, including makes on three consecutive Celtics possessions in the final 90 seconds.
The Celtics star added nine rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two turnovers, flirting with a triple-double in his 36 minutes. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla called it “a really well-balanced game from JT on both ends.”
“You were able to kind of see his greatness,” Mazzulla said.
It was Tatum’s highest-scoring outing since May 12, 2025, when he dropped 42 against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden before tearing his Achilles.
With his outside shot spotty until late in the game — Tatum missed seven of his first nine 3-pointers before drilling one over Karl-Anthony Towns with 30 seconds remaining — he did much of his damage inside, going 8-for-10 in the paint, 6-for-7 in the restricted area and 5-for-5 at the foul line.
“JT was special,” Paul George said. “He was special, from start to finish. He got to wherever he wanted, put the team on his back. Our job was to give him space, get stops, but everything was fluid. He did it effortlessly. Whatever pressure, whatever defense they showed, he had an answer for it. That’s the JT we’ve all seen, and he’s special. The kid is special.”
Headlining Tatum’s supporting cast was center Neemias Queta. Coming off the bench behind ex-Knick Mitchell Robinson, Queta posted 15 points, four offensive rebounds, three blocks and a slew of drawn fouls (6-for-9 from the free-throw line). He also made just the second 3-pointer of his seven-year NBA career as part of a 16-5 Celtics run in the late third and early fourth quarters.
Robinson, who admitted he “played like ass” against the Pistons in his Boston debut, had four points, three rebounds and a block against his former team, with foul trouble limiting him to 22 minutes.
The Celtics’ other marquee addition, Paul George, posted a humbler stat line than his 38-point eruption on Tuesday (15-7-2 with two steals), but he helped spearhead Boston’s aggressive defense and hit two clutch 3-pointers. One beat the halftime buzzer, and the other, with just under three minutes remaining, helped the Celtics ward off a Knicks comeback bid.
The win evened the Celtics’ record at 1-1. The Knicks, who lost to Jaylen Brown, LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers in their opener, fell to 0-2.
Fouls were an early issue for the Celtics on Friday. Robinson picked up two in the first three minutes, cutting his opening shift short. Queta then was whistled for a loose-ball frustration foul 94 feet from the basket when he shoved Jalen Brunson after a Tatum miss.
That’s been a troubling trend for Queta, who’s fouled an opponent in the backcourt in eight of his last nine games dating back to last season’s Celtics-76ers playoff series. Friday’s infraction put New York in the bonus with more than seven minutes remaining in the quarter.
The opening frame wasn’t all bad for the 7-footer, though. Queta also drew two first-quarter fouls after offensive rebounds and blocked an OG Anunoby layup into the Knicks bench.
Third-string center Luka Garza, who saw prominent minutes for the second straight game, checked in late in the first and was far more impactful than he was against Detroit. In an efficient three-and-a-half-minute stint, Garza went 3-for-3 with two 3-pointers, a putback, a steal and a drawn charge — then watched the rest of the game from the bench.
Thanks to Garza’s contributions, threes by Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard, and a couple of nifty Derrick White floaters, the Celtics built a 39-31 lead early in the second quarter with Tatum on the bench. A string of missed layups stalled their momentum, but Tatum and Queta keyed another push before halftime.
A Queta block at one end led to a Tatum layup at the other. Moments later, Tatum found Queta for a driving dunk, prompting Knicks head coach Mike Brown to storm onto the court to call a timeout. Tatum then stole a Towns pass and finished a contested layup over Mikal Bridges.
After two Josh Hart buckets put New York back in front, George responded with a corner three to send Boston into halftime with a 50-49 lead.
The Celtics added to their cushion with a 12-4 run early in the third quarter, fueled by two at-the-rim makes by Tatum, threes by Jordan Walsh and White, and George’s defensive playmaking. George turned a steal into a fast-break layup, then threw down a powerful dunk off a feed from Queta.
Boston forced 18 turnovers in the win — including multiple shot-clock violations and offensive fouls — while committing just 11.
Consecutive 3-pointers from Brunson and Miles McBride cut New York’s deficit to two, but Boston regained control when Tatum drew a foul that was awarded after a successful Celtics challenge. He made both free throws — doubling his opening-night total of one against Detroit — then hit a pull-up three that made it 73-69 C’s.
The lead hit double digits by the end of the third. Queta blocked Hart at the rim and buried a corner three in front of the New York bench. Tatum, who set up the big man for that rare triple and called it his “favorite part of the game,” drew another foul on a drive, then used screens by Queta and Baylor Scheierman to race past Hart and Towns for an open dunk.
“I mean, I’ve seen JT do that when we played against him a couple times — take over some games like that,” Robinson said. “To be on the same side of it and just witness that being on his team, it was mind-blowing.”
Tatum and Queta scored the Celtics’ final 15 points of the quarter. Boston took an 83-73 lead into the fourth.
The lead peaked at 12 points after Robinson blocked Towns — the player he backed up in New York — then converted a lob dunk from White. But the Knicks clawed back. Tatum missed his first three shots after checking back in with 6:53 to play, and Robinson was unable to box out Towns on a putback slam.
A Brunson jumper cut it to 99-98 with 1:41 remaining. But Tatum punched back with a turnaround 19-footer over Hart, a stepback over Hart from just inside the arc and a game-deciding triple that cleared Towns’ outstretched arms.
The Knicks had a few final chances. McBride hit a three to make it 106-103, and George sent Brunson to the foul line with a chance to cut it to two with four seconds remaining. The NBA Finals MVP missed both shots, however, and the Celtics survived.
Boston’s defenders — led by Walsh, who made his second straight start — largely kept the dangerous Knicks guard in check. Brunson finished with 19 points, four assists and three turnovers.
“We threw a ton of different guys at him: Hugo (Gonzalez), Jordan, Baylor, PG, Derrick,” Mazzulla said. “Even Payton had some possessions. They took the challenges. It’s not easy.”
The Celtics’ schedule eases up this week, at least from an opponent perspective. They’ll host the Chicago Bulls on Monday and the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday in their first back-to-back of the season, then play another home game against Chicago on Friday to open NBA Cup group play.
The Bulls and Nets are two of the few teams expected to struggle this season in a much-improved Eastern Conference. After those three favorable matchups at TD Garden, the Celtics will begin a grueling November in which they’ll play 12 of their 16 games on the road.