By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: David Butler II – Imagn Images
The New York Knicks mounted a huge comeback win to steal Game 1 from the Boston Celtics with a 108-105 overtime victory.
The Knicks trailed by 20 with five minutes left in the third quarter. In a game where they pulled it off and fought hard while Jalen Brunson was resting, the Knicks started moving the ball well.
OG Anunoby had a great game with 29 points. He knocked down some big threes to bring the Knicks back in the game. Brunson had 29 points. Josh Hart had a solid 14 points and 11 rebounds. Miles McBride was big time off the bench with 11 points in 18 minutes.
The Celtics had 10 turnovers in the second half, which the Knicks took advantage of.
Mikal Bridges didn’t have a great shooting night. He went 3 for 13 with 8 points, but he did play 51 minutes with six rebounds and seven assists and was a defensive wizard down the stretch. Without his defense, the storyline would’ve been different today.
Mitchell Robinson needs to be better from the free-throw line. Robinson made 3 of 10 from the line. The Celtics will use this tactic in the future in the series. The Knicks, as a team overall, went 17 of 31 from the line.
The Celtics live and die by the three. They were built to shoot threes. The team took 60 threes in the game and made just 15. Kristaps Porzingis is inconsistent. The Celtics could be a dominant team if he would work on some aspects of his game.
Jaylen Brown is not 100 percent. His knee bothers him, but he played 44 minutes. He finished with 23 points, including shooting 7 of 20 from the field. Jayson Tatum also had 23 points and shot 7 of 23 from the field. Derrick White added 19 and had a terrible shooting game.
For Game 2, Karl Anthony Towns and Brunson need to avoid foul trouble. Towns and Brunson committed fouls early in the game, which was part of the Celtics’ game plan.
Game Two will be on Wednesday at 7 pm. It’s the largest playoff comeback win since 1969-70.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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