Just too many mistakes with the turnovers, dumb defense and missed FTs. You almost need to play perfect to beat them. It seemed like a big chunk of the Celtics offense came from turnovers or broken plays for threes or simply just Tatum being great. Great player that made tough shots over good defense. And KP shot the ball almost perfect. Can't do much when a 7'3" guy shoots from almost the logo. Yeah the close outs could've been better but give him credit. And falling asleep on that Hauser inbound layup hurt too. Cannot do that against that team!

Also didn't like Bridges on Tatum for that stint in the 4th where Tatum went crazy even though he played text bookndefense. OG should be on him the entire game but we had chances to win it. Brunson missed two threes he normally makes and Hart had a decent look at the buzzer but wished we ran something to get someone else a better look. I love Hart but you don't want him in that spot. Bridges fumbling that pass was annoying! OG missed a lot of shots he was making lately but he was due to have an off game. KAT was good amd I loved the low post scoring but too many mental errors on defense but that's what you get with him.

Bench was alright. Mitch made an impact and Payne sparked the team early in the 4th with a floater and three. Shamet made a three but got burned a bit on defense. Deuce was meh.

This was Giants vs Patriots in Week 16 in 2006. We'll learn and be better when we play them in round two!

VDesai wrote:

LivingLegend wrote:I can't help but keep coming back to Josh Hart.

Thibs is afraid to cut his minutes and Celtics didn't even guard him tonight and he's worse on the other side of the court.

I thought Hart was the reason we came back when they were on the verge of wiping us off the floor on the third. He willed the comeback

I didn't see that BUT I'm kind of down on Josh so possible I'm imagining some of the negative. I keep watching the Celtics bigs sitting in the lane or doubling Kat in post because they are leaving Josh free to stand around on perimeter. Thought I saw numerous defensive lapses, not boxing out on some key Boston offensive rebounds and just lots of miscommunication on screens or rotations.

3 volume is out of hand in the NBA and we aren't adjusting, you just can't recover on most nights with 8 less made 3s, that is an 8 pt deficit when you answer with a 2. FT misses are sometimes an issue like tonight, and mental lapses. The game swung on that 8-0 run but the refs did the Knicks no favors in those minutes.

Overall, mostly positives from this game overall. They needed to add someone at the deadline like the Cavs did with Hunter, but the didn't and Celts are just too deep with talent. We are 1 or 2 depth players away from the top tier. I'll take 2nd tier in the 1st Year of this new Knicks. Go NY go!

Bring them on in the playoffs. We'll have 4 shots to win 1 game... and hopefully we'll be able to get 4 out of 7.

The GREAT NEWS is that if we can hold it together, we'll be heading into the playoffs with our main rotation 100% healthy and have a few games to get in-game reps at game speed. This is something we haven't had over the last few seasons.

I hope Brunson/McBride are fully healthy and just need conditioning at this point. And I hope that Robinson's injury management days off are really just that - and he hasn't quietly sustained anything new.

VDesai wrote:We should have beaten them today, but yet I come out of it feeling less likely we can beat them.

We can’t.

We’ll be another second round flop. I’m convinced.

This team is a head case. But it is what it is. Might as well enjoy while we still have games to play.

We had no answer for Porzingis. That pick and pop is near unstoppable out to 28 feet. He was on absolute fire and they barely scraped out the win. It might be that you have to pull KAT out with KP and trust your wings to get the stop. It’s a solid offensive set that they run.

EwingsGlass wrote:Notably, OG and Bridges played significantly worse with Brunson back in the lineup. Not specifically Brunson’s fault. He didn’t make OG miss open 3s or Bridges open 4 foot jumpers. But I think these two change their mentality a bit with Brunson on the floor.

We had no answer for Porzingis. That pick and pop is near unstoppable out to 28 feet. He was on absolute fire and they barely scraped out the win. It might be that you have to pull KAT out with KP and trust your wings to get the stop. It’s a solid offensive set that they run.

They tried to bring Bridges into the game by having him play pick and roll with Brunson. He plays soft sometimes - needs to be more aggressive against switch teams where you need to pressure your defender and draw contact. He feasts vs drop where he can find space for his midrange, but has consistently been a zero in these Boston games.

OG was rough shooting the ball and was handled by Kornet. Surprising after the run he was on. Tough game on both ends. Knicks win every game where they are both good, win most when one is good, cant win when neither are good - but still almost beat Boston yesterday.

Nalod wrote:Entertaining game!!!! Fucking Tatum is really good.
Knicks played a really good game. FT's? Was bad.
Two mental mistakes were costly. Bridges was not expecting the pass from Kat, and losing Houser.
I liked the comeback, the lead, and defensive intensity for the most part.
Celtics are a very very good team evident by their gaudy record since the Allstar game.
Does not take a self absorbed fan to state we are not at the level. Injuries happen and chemistry can surge. That was a closer game than previous. Small moral win perhaps as a blow out loss would have deflated them.

And that’s the problem. It’s crunch time and KAT has the ball in his normal ISO position. Why would you run towards him and crowd up the play if you not expecting the ball right there? That’s a rookie mistake or someone who doesn’t have the IQ or playing scared in crunch time. Thibs doesn’t run plays most times and allows his players to create something. We’ll let towns create like he’s been doing for 79 games. Otherwise that was on Mikal.

HofstraBBall wrote:

MaTT4281 wrote:Ugh, how does he shake OG that bad?! Have no business even trying to guard inside the line.

^^

Wait who was playing center on that play? Mitch or Towns. Cause if it was Mitch you right. If it was Towns, OG had to guard the drive. If OG studied Tatums go to moves, he does that step back all the time. We need OG and Mikal to have a baby that’s tough like OG but arms like Mikal. Otherwise unless Thibs has a better game plan, Tatum will continue to kill us.

Need Mitch protecting the paint so the guards and wings to guard the 3pt shot.