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Key Moment
Sunday was an offensive nightmare for Boston from start to finish, as it matched its lowest-scoring effort of the Brad Stevens era with a 105-75 loss to the New York Knicks.
The Knicks opened up the game with the first basket, and never looked back from there. Where they did most of their damage, however, was midway through the second quarter when they held Boston scoreless for nearly five consecutive minutes.
The Celtics pulled within six points just under the seven-minute mark after a Kemba Walker and-one lay-up and a Javonte Green alley-oops slam. But their momentum was cut off at that point, as New York outscored them 9-0 over the next four-plus minutes of action, building a 42-29 lead.
Boston never came close to pulling back within single digits after that point, scoring just 50 points through the first three quarters to New York’s 75.
Key Player
If it weren’t for Jaylen Brown, this game would have been even uglier for the Celtics.
JB was the only Celtics player to score more than 10 points, finishing with a game-high of 25. He was also the only starter to shoot above 27 percent from the field, as he knocked down nine of his 20 field-goal attempts, including 3-of-9 from 3-point range.
Brown also finished one shy of the team-leading marks in both the rebounding and assisting departments, logging six boards and three helpers.
For Brown, it was his seventh 25-point effort of the season, and his fourth consecutive 20-point performance.
Box Score Nuggets
- Boston's 75-point effort was its lowest offensive output since Feb. 1, 2015.
- Jaylen Brown led the game in scoring with 25 points.
- Brown was the only Celtics player to log more than 10 points.
- Julius Randle led the way for New York with team highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds.
- Kemba Walker tallied nine points, four assists, three rebounds, three steals, and 20 minutes in his season debut.
- The Celtics shot just 7-of-46 (15.2 percent) from 3-point range.
- Boston also shot only 29.8 percent from the field and 62.1 percent from the free-throw line.
- Reggie Bullock was a game-high plus-36 in 28 minutes of action.
- The only scoring advantage Boston had was in fast-break points, of which it had 11 to New York's seven.
- The Celtics never led and trailed by as many as 37 points.
Quote of the Night
Kemba Walker on making his season debut