Jalen Brunson, Knicks rally to take 3-1 series lead over Celtics
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, it was bedlam at Madison Square Garden on Monday night. The raucous crowd erupted, not just for the win but maybe for all of the postseason games they’ve had to endure before enjoying a moment like this. And amid the chaos, there was Jalen Brunson, urging his teammates to get off the floor and to the locker room, reminding them there was nothing to celebrate.
But he would have a hard time convincing his teammates or the 19,812 who witnessed another in a long line of Brunson takeovers. This one featured 26 of his 39 points in the second half as the Knicks fought back from a 14-point third-quarter deficit for a 121-113 win over the Celtics, putting the defending NBA champions on the verge of elimination.
The Knicks lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series 3-1, with a chance to close it out in Boston on Wednesday night.
“Honestly, do we all expect anything less?” Karl-Anthony Towns said of Brunson. “I expect nothing less from Cap. It gets to the fourth quarter and he’s a bad, bad man when it comes to the fourth quarter and clutch points. You get in those moments, we all trust our talent, we know what we all can do, but man, it’s special when you get to watch him doing that in the fourth quarter.”
For much of the second half, it was Brunson and Jayson Tatum matching shot for shot with increasing degrees of difficulty. But while Brunson brought the Knicks to the finish, Tatum’s night ended much more painfully — not only in defeat, but being carried off the court on the shoulders of teammates and then spotted in a wheelchair in tears in the back corridors of the Garden.
While Tatum did all he could to drag the Celtics to the finish — he had 42 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocked shots in 39:37 before the injury — Brunson consistently found his way through multiple defenders, and when Boston finally prevented him from shooting, he found Mikal Bridges, who delivered time after time.
The Knicks got 23 points and four steals from Bridges, who might have played his most complete game of the postseason, and 23 points and 11 rebounds from Karl-Anthony Towns. OG Anunoby had 20 points. In addition to Brunson’s 26 points, Bridges had 14, Towns 13 and Anunoby 12 to account for 65 of the Knicks’ 70 second-half points.
With about three minutes left, Bridges deflected the ball loose from Jaylen Brown. Tatum started to lunge for it but went to the floor with no contact as Anunoby picked up the loose ball and drove for a fast-break dunk for a 113-104 Knicks lead. Tatum writhed in pain and eventually was helped off the court.
Each of the Knicks offered his prayers and best wishes for Tatum before addressing the game, but it was hard to not take some happiness in what they’d done. They fell behind 72-58 with 9:06 left in the third quarter, but Brunson scored 18 points in the quarter and they took an 88-85 lead into the fourth quarter.
“He’s someone that you’re only going to hold him down for so long,” Josh Hart said. “Once he figures it out, once he sees the ball go through the rim, it’s going to be tough for any opponent. He did what we needed him to do. We need him to bring that on Wednesday.”
“It’s easier said than done,” Brunson said. “One thing I have to do is respect my opponent. Knowing that it’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be tough. But not that you’re afraid to do so. Going to go out there and give it everything I’ve got, and both for myself and my team, the best chance to win a game. And it’s as simple as that.”
With the Knicks trailing by 14, Brunson rattled off seven straight points to start the comeback. He pulled them even with a jumper just inside the foul line and the 24-second clock down to one with 1:07 left in the third quarter, and after Boston took the lead back, he found Anunoby alone in the corner for a three-pointer and the lead. Hart added a coast-to-coast layup to close the quarter.
Tatum’s three-pointer gave the Celtics a 99-98 lead with 7:17 remaining and his three-point play tied it at 102 with 6:12 left, but Brunson scored seven points and Anunoby added five in a 14-2 run that gave the Knicks a 116-104 lead with 2:25 left.
The Celtics shot 9-for-14 from three-point range in their 39-point first quarter, with Derrick White (14 points in the quarter) going 4-for-4 and Tatum 3-for-5 en route to a 15-point quarter, but Boston shot 9-for-34 from outside the arc after that.
“Just keep fighting,” Bridges said. “We’ve been down way worse before. And just come out with an edge and don’t let up and don’t let them get the lead even higher. Just stay the course one possession at a time, and that’s what we did.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
