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Key Moment
Wednesday night’s matchup between the Celtics and the Knicks was tight throughout the first half and well into the second half. Then Boston turned it up, and New York tuned out.
The C’s led by five midway through the third quarter before they more than doubled their lead in a matter of only a minute and 52 seconds. Their six consecutive points pushed them ahead by 11 with 5L37 left in the third quarter, and their lead never dropped back into single-digits for the remainder of the night.
This run was a team effort, as three different Celtics scored and two tallied assists. Al Horford scored first on a driving layup, Jayson Tatum followed up with a silky-smooth jumper, and Terry Rozier ended the run with a pull-up jumper of his own. Jaylen Brown assisted on Horford’s layup, and Rozier assisted on Tatum’s jumper.
The rest of the game after that point was no contest; Boston pulled ahead by as many as 33 points as it cruised to a much-needed blowout victory, 103-73.
Key Player
Well, we’re sure you’re going to hear a little bit about Terry Rozier tonight. So let’s keep this short.
In his first career start, Terry Rozier filled in for the injured Kyrie Irving and looked like an eventual NBA starter himself. Rozier tallied his first career triple-double, matching Irving in that category in 428 fewer starts.
Rozier finished the contest with 17 points, a team-high 11 rebounds and a game-high 10 assists. His 10 assists were only six fewer than New York’s entire team totaled, and it doubled the next-highest individual total in the game (Al Horford, five).
Oh, and let’s not forget that he snatched two steals and blocked two shots while committing only two turnovers during his 32-plus minutes of action.
Box Score Nuggets
- Six different Celtics scored in double-figures, led by 20 points off the bench from Marcus Morris.
- New York nearly committed as many turnovers (14) as it tallied assists (16).
- Boston limited New York to just 32.2 percent shooting from the field.
- Terry Rozier tallied a triple-double in his first career start, as he finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
- Enes Kanter led New York with 17 points and he led the game with 17 rebounds.
- Rozier (three), Morris (two) and Abdel Nader (two) each made multiple 3-pointers, while the Knicks tallied only three made 3s as a team.
- Boston led by as many as 33 points.
- The teams combined to score only 15 fast break points.
- Rozier and Morris each tallied two steals and two blocked shots.
- Kristaps Porzingis struggled to shoot against the C's yet again, as he made only seven of his 18 field goal attempts.
- The Celtics committed only 10 turnovers, and New York scored only five points off of those turnovers.
- The Knicks were limited to just eight points during the fourth quarter.
- Morris scored his 20 points in less than 20 minutes of action (19:04).
Quote of the Night
Brad Stevens on playing Al Horford at the point guard position.