Brown, Celtics outlast Knicks, 101-99

Brad Stevens spent part of his pregame presser Wednesday talking about the various signs of progress he’s seen from his team in recent games, despite a track record that would say otherwise.

But then the Celtics coach caught himself.

“I’m just going to shut up and see if we can’t maybe put a good game together on both ends of the floor and go from there,” he said.

Stevens would hold his breath all night, before a combination of big shots from Jaylen Brown (32 points), and big shots and game-changing defensive plays from Marcus Smart (17 points, nine assists) turned the corner in a 101-99 Celtics win.

The teams started the night tied for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, and the Celtics, with the win, moved a game ahead of the Knicks in the Eastern Conference’s precarious seeding race.

Brown’s transition drive off an RJ Barrett (29 points) throwaway gave the Celtics a 93-90 lead with 1:02 left. Smart and Jayson Tatum (25 points) had each turned the ball over on the Celtics previous two possessions.

But Barrett came out of a timeout with a 3-pointer for the tie, only for Smart to answer from downtown with 36 seconds left.

Alec Burks missed from the top of the arc, and this time Brown was fouled on the break with 19.4 seconds left. He missed the second of two, leaving the Celtics with a four-point lead.

Burks was blocked by Brown, Smart wrestled away the rebound, and then hit twice from the line for a 99-93 lead with 11 seconds left.

Elfrid Payton hit from downtown with 6 seconds left, cutting the Celtics lead to 99-96. The Knicks were forced to foul Tatum, who hit twice with 4.9 seconds left for a five-point lead.

Smart’s up-faking 3-pointer gave the Celtics an 87-85 lead with 4:32 left. Julius Randle missed from downtown, and with 3:53 left Tatum drove for a four-point lead.

Barrett scored from the top of the key, but Smart grabbed a Tatum miss for the putback and a 91-87 lead.

Tristan Thompson fouled Nerlens Noel fighting for a rebound, and the Knicks center missed the second of two, leaving the Knicks down by three points.

Each side came up empty, including a Smart throwaway and the Knicks then converted a Tatum turnover, cutting the Celtics lead to 91-90.

But Barrett threw the ball away, too, and Brown converted off the break for a 93-90 Celtics lead with 1:02 left.

Tatum’s drive with 21 seconds left in the third cut the Knicks lead to 73-70. Increasingly sloppy play by the Celtics — they had 16 turnovers by the end of the quarter — fueled New York’s move into the lead.

Both sides opened the fourth in a cold state, with the Celtics repeatedly missing from downtown, until a Romeo Langford 3-pointer with 9:12 left. Burks answered down the other end, and the Knicks carried a 78-73 lead into the last 8:29.

Progress was slow. Brown missed a free throw on the end of a potential three-point play, and Derrick Rose came back off the break for an 82-77 Knicks lead. But Tatum answered with his third 3-pointer of the night, cutting the New York lead to 82-80 with 6:57 left.

Barrett came out of a timeout with a corner 3, Brown missed from the right corner in response, and Smart was fouled off the break with 5:50 left. He hit both free throws, cutting the Knicks lead to 85-82.

Thompson rose high to block a Rose floater, triggering Brown’s score off the break for a one-point margin.

The Knicks came up empty twice, and Smart, with an up-fake to lose his man, hit a 3-pointer for an 87-85 Celtics lead.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3a9W3E3