After stealing homecourt in Game 1, the Knicks knew for sure that the Celtics would look to bounce back aggressively during Wednesday night’s matchup, and they did. Boston even led the scoreboard by 20 points at one moment, but somehow managed to blow it again and lose the game.
With the series 2-0 in New York‘s favor, their players credit the squad for seizing the momentum in the second half and finding creative ways to overcome the reigning NBA champions. With 14 minutes to play, the Manhattan club rallied once again and won the match by one point.
“Just finding ways to win,” said Mikal Bridges, who went scoreless in the first three quarters but finally kept his team afloat in the last stage. The Knicks star dropped in 6-for-10 in that fourth quarter, scoring 14 points in total when his team needed him the most.
Josh Hart led the team with 23, while Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 points and 17 boards. Jalen Brunson, who believes focus will be key in Game 3, had 17 points. “Going home, we realize the opportunity we have. We just have to stay locked in,” he said following the win in Boston.
Believe it or not, last night the Manhattan team didn’t take their first lead of the contest until they were four minutes remaining to the final buzzer. In fact, in the past two games, they’ve only led the scoreboard for 12 minutes in total, and now lead the series with two victories.
“They made every play,” said coach Joe Mazzulla about their rivals, after his team didn’t allow any points off turnovers in the 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, so they made the necessary plays to win.”
Jaylen Brown is aware he’s missed when his team needs him, after hitting 20 points but only 1-of-7 shooting in the second half. “(It’s) a bunch of stuff that we can control,” he expressed postgame. “I feel like we played a little bit fast and sped up a little antsy. Just it’s a rough night.”
