Knicks need to change narrative, finally beat Celtics
Jalen Brunson of the Knicks works against Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics during the first half at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 8. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Boston Celtics do not care if they beat the Knicks on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Celtics have nothing to play for. They’ve already locked up the second seed in the Eastern Conference. They’re 3-0 against the Knicks this season, with wins by 23, 27 and 13 points. Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and Jayson Tatum are listed as questionable on the Boston injury report, and no one would blame the Celtics if they decided to rest multiple stars, given that they really have nothing to prove.
The same, however, cannot be said for the Knicks.
The Knicks could take an important step forward with a win over the Celtics, even if Boston doesn’t have a full team or is not all that motivated to win.
The Knicks need to change the narrative this final week of the regular season. They need to prove that they can beat an elite team, something they have yet to do this season. They are a combined 0-8 against Boston, Cleveland and Oklahoma City, the teams with the three best records in the NBA.
A victory over the Celtics would not only give them that win but would clinch the third seed in the East, as the Knicks’ magic number entering the night is one. The victory also could be helpful in the event of a second-round showdown between the Knicks and the Celtics — provided that the Knicks can get past either Detroit or Milwaukee in the first round.
It also would give the Knicks some momentum as they head into what could be a challenging final week of the season. After hosting the Celtics, they will head to Detroit for Thursday’s game against a young team that is 2-1 against them and very well could be their first-round opponent. They then will try to get their first win against the East’s top seed, Cleveland, on Friday before ending the season Sunday against the lottery-bound Nets.
Tuesday’s meeting will mark the first time this season that the Knicks have played the Celtics with all of the important pieces of their roster healthy. Mitchell Robinson missed the first three meetings as he rehabbed from offseason foot surgery.
With All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson having rejoined the team on Sunday after missing a month with a sprained ankle and backup Deuce McBride back from his groin injury, the only injured player on the team is rookie Ariel Hukporti.
Though one win over a Suns team that was missing Kevin Durant is a small sampling, the Knicks team that beat Phoenix on Sunday has a chance to be a better one than the one Brunson left when he was injured on March 6.
OG Anunoby, who scored 32 points and shot 13-for-17 from the field Sunday, certainly believes things are trending in the right direction.
“I think the sky’s the limit,” he said when he was asked what he thought this team could be with all of its pieces back. “We are a really talented team. We’re tough. We’re hard-nosed and we’re just getting ready for the playoffs.”
There’s no doubt that Brunson is the most important player on this team, but the Knicks managed to do more than tread water during his absence, going 9-6. Anunoby emerged as an offensive force and one of the most diverse players in the game, Mikal Bridges raised his offensive production and Karl-Anthony Towns remained a consistent force.
But equally important, the lack of bodies forced Tom Thibodeau to give the nod to players who had not seen many minutes. We’re not ready to say Thibodeau is on the precipice of expanding his rotation — he used nine players on Sunday — but players such as Delon Wright and Tyler Kolek got some valuable experience that could pay off in the future.
The Knicks had big hopes of being contenders at the start of the season and then were stunned by Boston, 132-109, in the season opener.
The Knicks can’t control whom the Celtics play on Tuesday. They can control the perception of their own team heading down the stretch and avoid the humiliation of getting beaten by a team missing some of its key players, superstars or not.
It’s a big game for the Knicks.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
