New York (AFP) – Jalen Brunson scored 39 points as the New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics 121-113, leaving the reigning NBA champions on the brink of elimination from the playoffs on Monday. Brunson spearheaded a sensational second-half rally that saw New York overturn a 14-point third-quarter deficit before surging to a win that gives New York a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
A potentially fatal defeat for Boston was exacerbated by a serious injury to forward Jayson Tatum, who looked distraught as he was carried off the Madison Square Garden hardwood in the fourth quarter. Tatum, who had been magnificent to that point with a 42-point display, was later seen being ferried to the locker room in a wheelchair. As the Celtics digested defeat and the brutal Tatum injury blow, the Knicks were left celebrating and eyeing a place in the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000.
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“Just found a way to make plays and get us going,” Brunson said of the second-half revival that set up the Knicks win. “I was just in a flow and doing whatever. I wasn’t really trying to take over. It was just ‘whatever we’ve gotta do’,” Brunson told ESPN. “We didn’t quit, kept fighting. And that’s what’s most important. Whenever you get in a hole you can’t quit.”
– Knicks flick switch –
Boston started the game where they had left off in a convincing game three victory on Saturday, with Tatum and Payton Pritchard swiftly finding their range from outside the arc. Tatum and Pritchard both scored three-pointers as Boston closed the first quarter on a 12-0 run to surge into a 39-28 lead. They carried that 11-point advantage into half-time, Tatum finishing with 20 points to help the Celtics to 62-51 at the break.
A Derrick White three-pointer gave Boston their biggest lead of the night early in the third quarter, the point guard putting the Celtics 14 points up at 72-58. But just when it looked as if Boston were threatening to pull away, the Knicks flicked the switch at both ends of the court to kickstart a dramatic rally. Brunson poured in 18 points as the Knicks roared back to outscore Boston 37-23 in the third quarter and take an 88-85 lead into the final frame.
Brunson kept the points flowing in the fourth quarter, and when OG Anunoby grabbed a steal off Tatum in the incident that left the Celtics star writhing in pain before making a dunk, the Knicks were home and dry at 118-106 with less than two minutes remaining. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said Tatum would undergo a scan on Tuesday to determine the extent and nature of what he described as a “lower body injury.”
“He’ll get the MRI tomorrow and we’ll see what it is,” Mazzulla said. “Obviously you’re always concerned about someone’s health. It’s two-fold, we’re concerned about his health and where he’s at. And then we’re concerned what we’ve got to do better in game five.” The series returns to Boston for game five on Wednesday.
© 2024 AFP
