Key Moment
Boston’s second, third and fourth strings held up with New York’s first, second and third strings into the fourth quarter of Monday night’s matchup. But that’s when the Knicks pulled away.
Boston trailed by only three, at 91-88, following Oshae Brissett’s running dunk to open up the fourth quarter. Less than two minutes later, however, that deficit had grown to nine thanks to a 6-0 run by New York.
All of those six points were all scored from beyond the arc, as DaQuan Jeffries and Evan Fournier each canned one from deep to spur the Knicks. Their 3-pointers were sandwiched around a Celtics turnover, a blocked layup attempt from the Celtics, and a missed 3-pointer by Boston.
New York’s lead eventually reached 13 points on multiple occasions and the hosts held on down the stretch despite a late run from Boston. The C’s pulled to within five with 1:06 left, but rookie Jordan Walsh missed a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left that would have made it a two-point game and they didn’t score from that moment on. The Knicks closed the game out by scoring the final two points of the night from the free-throw line to seal a 114-107 win.
Key Player
Dalano Banton capitalized on his first start with the Boston Celtics. He got the call Monday night as Boston’s regular starters rested on the second night of a back-to-back, and all he did was drop 20 points during 30-plus minutes of action. Those 20 points trailed only Payton Pritchard’s 21 on the team.
Banton made eight of his 19 shot attempts on the night, including a 1-for-5 effort from long range. His shooting numbers were not necessarily impressive, but his ability to put pressure on the rim and finish was. It was easy to dream up ways that the Celtics can capitalize on the 6-foot-7 guard’s strengths should he share the court with the team’s top players.
Banton rounded out his box score with two rebounds and two assists, while notably committing only one turnover.
Box Score Nuggets
- Boston's starting backcourt combined to score 41 points, with 21 from Payton Pritchard and 20 from Dalano Banton.
- Sam Hauser and Lamar Stevens led the game in rebounds with eight apiece.
- Boston shot just 42.6 percent from the field and 25 percent from long range, yet still had a chance to win the game during the final minutes.
- New York scored 26 points off of Boston's 16 turnovers.
- Immanuel Quickley led New York with 20 points off the bench.
- The Knicks made 25 free throws, while Boston attempted just 19.
- The Celtics either tied New York or were outscored by just one point during three of the four quarters. The only outlier was the second quarter, when they were outscored by seven.
- Pritchard led the Celtics in scoring (21 points), assists (five) and steals (three).
- Jalen Brunson started for New York but played just 5-plus minutes. He tallied 10 points and an assist during that time.
Quote of the Night
“I'm really encouraged by really the entire roster. Second night of a back-to-back in the preseason, to get that type of effort, to get that type of competitive nature, I think is really important for us.”
– Joe Mazzulla on the performance of Boston's reserves