Knicks battle into overtime before falling to Celtics, remain winless against NBA's top three teams

Some teams, some coaches, might opt in the final days of the regular season to exercise caution. They might hide some of their stars and keep them safely tucked away to avoid injury and escape a live scouting report ahead of a possible playoff matchup.

Tom Thibodeau and Joe Mazzulla are not those type of coaches and the Knicks and Celtics are not those teams.

So with just six days left in the regular season the Celtics arrived at Madison Square Garden with much of their rotation on the injury report, but all but one upgraded and available at game time. And the Knicks, with more to prove, dragging an 0-8 record against the three top teams in the NBA into the game, put out a full rotation for the first time against the Celtics this season.

And the intensity appeared more like a playoff game as both teams fought back and forth, carrying it into overtime with the Knicks showing fight as they clawed back from a fourth-quarter hole before losing, 119-117, in overtime to the Celtics.

“Just the way we played, we were connected,” Jalen Brunson said. “We didn’t get down when we were down. Bounced back, fought back. Obviously had a chance to win it, but that’s why they’re who they are. That’s why they’re the Celtics. That’s why they’ve been playing so well as of late, the last couple of years. Got to give them credit.”

This game may not have meant anything in the standings, but tell that to Jayson Tatum and OG Anunoby who were shoving each other on a jump ball in the final minutes of overtime. Or tell it to Kristaps Porzingis who was celebrating every shot as if he were still a rookie and this was his home court, including a go-ahead three-pointer with 40.3 seconds left in overtime, giving him 34 points.

And tell it to Mikal Bridges, who fumbled away a pass out of bounds with 13 seconds left, spoiling a chance for the Knicks to attempt a game-tying shot. Forced to foul, the Knicks saw Derrick White hit two free throws to put the game out of reach.

Lessons were learned. Maybe start with fouling in the final seconds with a three-point lead rather than letting the Celtics get off a game-tying shot. Karl-Anthony Towns is a problem offensively against the Celtics, scoring 34 points. But Towns might not be able to defend the Celtics. OG Anunoby battles Tatum as well as any defender, but no other defender on the Knicks can slow him down as he finished with 32 points.

And certainly there were lessons learned from mistakes like not fouling the Celtics after Hart put the Knicks up by three with a layup with 11.9 seconds left in regulation, instead allowing Tatum a clean look at the game-tying three.

“I think we didn’t do a good enough job as a team, as players and coaching staff, of understanding the situation and making sure we came out of the timeout knowing exactly what we’re going to run," Josh Hart said. "Exactly the scenario if we make the shot, exactly the scenario if we miss the shot.

“Credit to them. Tatum hit a heck of a shot. I think we were caught off guard with them not calling a timeout, them just playing. But we’ve got to communicate better, all of us from the top down to make sure we understand the situation.”

“It’s time and situation,” Thibodeau said. “They inbounded the ball quickly, he’s coming at us and then if he’s in the shooting motion, you’re giving him the three shots. It wasn’t off a dead-ball situation.”

For the Knicks, battling with the Celtics would have to settle for as much of a confidence boost as they would get. They fell to 0-4 against the Celtics, who line up as a possible Eastern Conference semifinal opponent, to go along with three losses against Cleveland and two against Oklahoma City without a win to show.

The teams swayed back and forth, the Knicks delivering big shots, but it seemed as if everyone was answered by Tatum in the fourth quarter. Brunson’s shot in the lane closed the gap to 102-101 with 2:21 left and after Derrick White misfired from three the Knicks took the lead as Anunoby followed a Brunson miss with 1:29 to play. Brunson then found Bridges in the lane for a three-point lead.

Tatum was then fouled on a three-point attempt by Towns, sending him to the line with 35.8 seconds remaining. Tatum hit two, but missed on the third. Brunson found Hart cutting along the baseline for a three-point lead, but Tatum delivered one more time, shaking Anunoby and draining a game-tying three with just 2.9 seconds left.

The Knicks called timeout, but Bridges could not get the ball into Brunson and Hart was forced to fire up a desperation shot that missed and the game was headed to overtime.

Close was good, but not good enough. The Knicks saw too many chances where one play, two plays could have made the difference. The Tatum three at the end of regulation and then not even getting a shot off down three in overtime.

“We move onto the next play,” Brunson said of Bridges fumbling the ball out of bounds. “Game is not over. No time to talk about it. We’ve had the mentality for the longest time that it’s a next play mentality ever since I’ve known Mikal. We’ll talk about it another time but we’ve got to focus on finishing the game. I don’t have to tell him that. He knows that.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

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.