The New York Knicks, who are going through a dazzling moment, stormed Boston this Sunday and defeated the Celtics after two overtimes to chain their ninth consecutive victory (129-131). The New Yorkers had a vibrant game between two titans from the East and they also did it without one of their two great stars, Jalen Brunson, due to foot discomfort.
His replacement in the New York starting five was Immanuel Quickley and the play turned out well for the Knicks since the point guard signed the highest score of his NBA career with 38 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. “I’m very proud of my team,” Quickley said, in the ESPN broadcast just after his recital, before pointing out that the New York team is not satisfied and wants to continue growing.
Julius Randle had 31 points and 9 rebounds and RJ Barrett had 29 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks (5th in the East, 39-27). For the Celtics (second in the East, 45-20), the top scorer was Jayson Tatum with 40 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, although he was not inspired from the triple (6 of 17).
Jaylen Brown (29 points and 8 rebounds) and the Dominican Al Horford (20 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists) also stood out in a Celtics that have lost three of their last four games and that this week have lost twice against these Knicks released. Boston went on to win by 14 points in the third period but the Knicks turned the score around in the fourth quarter with an admirable comeback.
In fact, the game would have ended with a victory for the Knicks in regulation time if it hadn’t been for Brown, who tied the score with a two plus one with 12.9 seconds remaining and also stole the ball from Randle when he was looking for a basket winner on the buzzer (113-113). The match was not resolved in the first overtime either as Tatum missed the final shot (121-121).
Already in the second overtime, Quickley became the key man for the visitors since he scored 7 of his team’s 10 points in those five minutes. Horford had a last-second 3-pointer to put the game into third overtime but his shot missed and the Knicks sealed a fantastic victory to continue their excellent run.
