Five key matchups between Knicks and Celtics in Eastern Conference semifinal
The Knicks' Jalen Brunson, left, and the Celtics' Jayson Tatum
KNICKS’ DEFENSE VS. CELTICS’ THREE-POINT SHOOTERS — ALL OF THEM
One of the Knicks’ issues this season has been finding the shooters as they scramble in rotation defensively. There is no team that makes you pay for that more than the Celtics, so while the Knicks are figuring out how to defend Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the concern just as much might be who is standing alone on the perimeter. The Knicks ranked fifth in fewest three-point attempts allowed but 26th in opponent field-goal percentage. The Celtics rank 10th in the NBA in three-point percentage but first in attempts. “You have to finish your defense,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “It requires multiple efforts, it takes great communication, aggressiveness, and you have to finish. You have to challenge.”
JAYSON TATUM VERSUS JALEN BRUNSON
If things are going right defensively for their teams, those two will never be matched up, but it’s still worth considering because of this: With a game on the line, the ball will be in their hands with the task of finishing off an opponent. Brunson won the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year Award, but Tatum wasn’t far off, converting 37.9% of his clutch shots, the second-highest percentage among 65 players who have taken at least 50 clutch shots in the last 30 years.
UNICORN VERSUS UNICORN
When Kristaps Porzingis came into the NBA, it was as a 7-3 center with shooting guard skills — able to stretch defenses in a way few 7-footers ever had. The only problem with naming him The Unicorn is that the first player taken in that same draft was Karl-Anthony Towns, who might be an even better three-point shooter. The biggest difference in this matchup is that Porzingis has found a home as a complementary player to the Tatum-Brown pairing while the Knicks really need Towns to consistently deliver offensive help for Brunson.
ANTHONY GOENAGA VS. ART HORNE
Don’t recognize those names? Well, Thibodeau joked recently that Goenaga, the Knicks’ long-time trainer, is the team’s MVP. Maybe some credit is due as he and the Knicks’ training staff have managed to get the team to this point with all of the players available, including Brunson, who played 42 minutes in Game 6 against Detroit with nagging ankle troubles. The Celtics come in whole, too, after sitting Jrue Holiday for three games against Orlando and Tatum for one.
SILENCE IS GOLDEN
Here is one thing that you don’t need to worry about when figuring out how this series will go — which coach will reveal something. Ask Boston’s Joe Mazzulla how an injured player is doing and you’ll get “day-to-day.” You might get that from him if you asked about a retired player. Ask Thibodeau about how the Knicks can overcome the odds and he’ll tell you, “Focus on your strengths, cover up your weaknesses,” which also will be his answer if you ask him his dinner plans. There will be no hints or clues divined from listening to these two hard-nosed leaders of their teams.
PREDICTIONS
STEVE POPPER
CELTICS IN 6: Do the Knicks have a chance in this matchup they were built to take on? Probably not, but remember last season when the Knicks were supposed to steamroll the Pacers and began to fall apart with injuries? The Celtics are nursing injuries to three starters, including their two stars, and enter the series with all expected to play. But these things can turn on a twist of an ankle.
BARBARA BARKER
CELTICS IN 6: Boston embarrassed the Knicks in the season opener and went on to beat them three more times. Still, it’s 0-0, and a tough first-round series against Detroit seems to have brought the Knicks together as a team. If OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges can slow Boston’s wings and Karl Anthony Towns can come up with one or two monster offensive games and Jalen Brunson can continue to work his fourth-quarter magic, the Knicks will find a way to steal a game and possibly two.
NEIL BEST
KNICKS IN 6: Folks are treating the Celtics like an unstoppable juggernaut. They did not even finish first in the Eastern Conference! Finally freed from the clutches of the grabby Pistons, the Knicks in general and Karl-Anthony Towns in particular will find welcome room to operate against Boston and shock the NBA world by advancing.
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.
