After rallying from 20 down in a gritty overtime triumph in game one, the Knicks authored another epic comeback.
Mikal Bridges scored all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter for the Knicks and came up with a steal as Boston’s Jayson Tatum drove for a potential game-winning basket in the waning seconds.
Josh Hart led the Knicks with 23 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points and 17 rebounds.
Jalen Brunson scored 17 points and delivered again when it mattered. His fadeaway jumper with 1:59 to play gave New York their first lead of the game, 87-86.
And after Tatum raced the length of the court for a dunk that put the Celtics up 90-89 with 18.5 seconds left, Brunson drilled a pair of free throws to put the Knicks back on top.
“I’m just happy we found a way to win,” Brunson told broadcaster TNT. “That’s some wild stuff right there.”
With both teams struggling for offensive consistency, Boston had managed to build a 73-53 lead with 3:12 left in the third quarter.
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 20 points apiece for the Celtics – but Brown had just three after halftime and a run of 14 straight missed baskets by Boston in the fourth quarter gave the Knicks the only opening they needed.
“That third, fourth quarter I thought we generated some good looks and then I thought we had some live ball turnovers and they took advantage of it,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “They made the necessary plays to win. We put ourselves in position to do that, and we just didn’t make the plays.”
The Knicks will host game three on Saturday. Only five teams have rallied to win an NBA playoff series after dropping the first two games at home.
Later Wednesday, the Oklahoma City Thunder sought to bounce back from a devastating loss to the Denver Nuggets, who stole game one in Oklahoma City thanks to 42 points from Nikola Jokic and a last-gasp three-pointer from Aaron Gordon.
The Thunder led by double digits for much of the fourth quarter.
“We know it’s about how we respond,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the Thunder to a league-best 68 regular-season victories. “All we can do is be better for the next game, and that’s what we’re focused on.” (AFP)
