Celtics & Knicks Game 1 Review: Championship Basketball

Game one of the Boston Celtics—New York Knicks series went from being an easy stroll in the Boston Garden for the Celtics to a sudden mugging from the Knicks in the second half. The Knicks, after being down 61-45 at halftime, decided to play the game more around the perimeter, something that the New York Knicks do best. Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby each scored 29 points and combined for 11 made three-point shots to help the Knicks complete the 20-point comeback.

The game would then turn into an exchange of runs between both teams and an avalanche of deep-range shots. Taking an extra period of basketball for the game to be decided. It was agreed on a Mikal Bridges rip away of the ball from Jaylen Brown, stopping his attempt from tying the game and sending it to another overtime. The steal won the game for the Knicks, 108-105, at the Boston Garden. Here are some of my takeaways from the game and what could be expected for the rest of this series.

Shoot to the Death

As the Knicks began to shoot the lights out from beyond the arc in the second half, into overtime. The Celtics felt like they needed to play down to their game. By the end of the game, they had 45 missed three-point shots. This is the most in a single playoff game in NBA postseason history, also having a total of 60 shot attempts from beyond the arc for the night. It was more like Boston ended up being baited into a shootout with New York in their house and ended up playing out of their game.

During the postgame conference, both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown admitted that they should've driven the basketball into the paint more down the stretch and not drifted away from it. Trying to set up for more points under the basket or at least settle for mid-range shots was a better idea than chucking three-pointers for the Celtics. That was how they dominated the first half and built a big lead over the Knicks in the first place.

Let's Get Physical

The Celtics are a different team when Kristaps Porzingis isn't in the lineup. When Porzingis is on the floor for the Celtics, they possess the best defense in the league and contain a dominant presence at all five points of the cylinder and inside the paint. When he didn't return to the court after halftime in game one, Boston had to finish the game with an exhausted Al Horford and an adjusted game plan that took them out of their character. Mixing up their three-point shooting and protecting the paint is the name of their game, and they need to get back to that to avoid a possible series upset.

The status of Porzingis' illness, making him probable for game two, means that Knicks superstar big man Karl-Anthony Towns must take advantage of his possible absence to increase the Knicks' chances of taking a 2-0 lead in the series. Towns didn't play up to his level in game one, even in the second half when it was just Al Horford guarding him. He only scored 14 points and, at times, was outmuscled in the paint. He tends to spend too much time around the three-point area while he should be working the post or battling on the boards. Playoff basketball demands toughness and physicality to the max.

Resilience

The same way the Knicks got themselves out of their first-round series with the young, scrappy Detroit Pistons was the same way they upset the defending world champions in Boston. They somehow climbed out of it alive when they found themselves at the bottom of a pit. With their 6-2 overtime record for the season and the clutch player of the year award winner in Jalen Brunson, New York saw the 20-point deficit halfway through the second half as light work.

With Jalen Brunson on their side, this New York Knicks team is capable of anything. They outscored the Celtics in each of the final three periods thanks to Brunson and Anunoby's superb shot-making, which kept the Knicks out of trouble. Unlike the Celtics, they stuck to their game plan, the same plan that has carried them this far. They shot the basketball around the perimeter better than any other team in the league.

Mikal Bridges came up with two crucial steals in overtime that sealed the win for the Knicks. The first one led to a fast break opportunity that ended in an OG Anunoby slam dunk. The second one happened on the game's last play, with Jaylen Brown catching an inbound pass, and Bridges stripped the ball away right when Brown caught it. These are offseason transactions paying off dividends for the Knicks.

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