Boston Celtics: 3 studs in team’s revenge victory over Knicks
The Boston Celtics stretched their winning streak to four games with a 128-100 victory over the New York Knicks Thursday night at TD Garden.
The Boston Celtics has a lot of time off and a lot of time to think about the last time they faced the New York Knicks.
Back on Thanksgiving Eve, the Celtics were on the verge of getting blown out at home by the Knicks before rallying late in the game to come up just short. The loss dropped their record to 9-9 and inserted some panic into the team and fans.
That panic woke up the Celtics. Since that loss, the team is 4-1 and has found their groove offensively and has placed some cohesive team defense as well.
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With Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris now in the starting lineup and Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown coming off the bench, Brad Stevens has seemed to have found the combinations that work.
That was on display on Thursday night as Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics came out of the gate flying. Irving vowed revenge and he did his part with some Uncle Drew type moves to start the game.
Despite the team’s offensive proficiency, the Knicks didn’t go away easily until early in the fourth quarter when the Celtics put their foot on the pedal. Despite New York sticking within striking distance, the game really didn’t seem in jeopardy, as every time they drew within six or five points, the Celtics answered with a counterpunch.
That is the type of urgency and aggressiveness Boston needs to play with to take care of the teams they should beat and compete with the best teams in the NBA. Most importantly, the team just needs to keep having fun on the basketball court.
"“I think the important thing to take (off) our shoulders early on was just how much of the fun we weren’t having,” Irving said following the game, as transcribed by NESN. “It just wasn’t fun. It just wasn’t good basketball. We weren’t cheering for one another. We weren’t doing the little things. I know certain guys would probably be fearful to talk about it, but it goes on in every NBA locker room. Those guys have egos or guys think they have the best way of winning. The coaches have their best way, you have the GM and president, and everybody feels like they have an ego in this.”"
With the adjustments Brad Stevens has made and players buying into whatever role they are given, it looks like the Celtics have finally awakened and the Eastern Conference should now be on notice.