2005...

which was also around the last time the Celtics were good before last year (with Pierce and Walker).

Even more funny is that that win was also a surprise.

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March 24, 2005
KNICKS 107, CELTICS 82
Knicks Punctuate Evening With Rout
By HOWARD BECK

There were no asterisks, footnotes or disclaimers for the Knicks last night, just an unexpected rout of the third-best team in the Eastern Conference - and enough snarling and vitriol to last through the summer.

The Boston Celtics, runaway leaders of the Atlantic Division, skipped into Madison Square Garden with the swagger befitting their new, lofty perch, though it was perhaps too much swagger for their own good.

They yapped and they taunted, and considering their 3-0 record against the Knicks, the Celtics might have figured they could get away with it.

But they were stunned into silence when the Knicks yapped back and, duly inspired, ran off with a 107-82 rout.

"Nobody's going to come in here and push us around," said Tim Thomas, whose first-quarter showdown with Paul Pierce drew a double-technical foul. "We all want to go out there and compete, but when you start coming out of your character, then it's another story."

In the tense moments, when Thomas and Pierce went chest to chest, and Stephon Marbury and Ricky Davis jawed incessantly during a free throw, it appeared as if the verbal mayhem might beget something worse.

But everyone kept their heads, and the Knicks took home one of their most satisfying victories of the season. They beat a division winner for the second straight game. Unlike San Antonio, which was missing Tim Duncan during the Knicks' victory on Monday, the Celtics were at full strength.

At least, their mouths were at full strength.

"I guess everybody thinks they're G.P.," Thomas said, referring to the Celtics' renowned trash talker, Gary Payton. "Half of those guys shouldn't even be talking."

Malik Rose, acquired by the Knicks on the same day Boston reacquired Antoine Walker, played sturdy defense for 39 minutes, holding Walker to 5-of-20 shooting. Walker's scoring punch had led the Celtics to 11 victories in 12 games, but he finished with just 13 points.

No other Celtic scored in double figures. Pierce, their leading scorer, finished with 5 points in 23 minutes.

Thomas said his aggressive defense, and aggressive verbal returns, took Pierce out of his game.

"It's not even MTV, and he got punked," Thomas said.

Doc Rivers, the Celtics coach, finished with a profound disappointment in his team.

"I really thought the first two minutes our guys were ready to play, and we had guys yapping on the bench," Rivers said. "You deserve to get your butt kicked. To me, they outplayed us, outcoached us, they played harder than us, wanted the game more."

The victory was the Knicks' eighth in 12 games and their ninth in their last 11 home games. They have held nine straight opponents to fewer than 100 points.

Walker was unimpressed. "They played a little bit over their heads tonight," he said.

The surge has kept the Knicks, improbably, in the playoff hunt, although greater obstacles lie ahead. They leave today for a four-game trip through the West, beginning Friday night in Seattle. At 29-37, they are three and a half games behind Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the East.

The game was not three minutes old when Davis, sitting on the Boston bench, got into a shouting match with Marbury. Thirteen seconds later, Thomas and Pierce jawed. Rivers and the Knicks' Jerome Williams also received technical fouls.

Near the end of the first quarter, Thomas fouled Davis and flipped over, falling hard to the court. Davis did nothing to cause the fall, but he turned to the Boston bench and said, "Hey, I got him."

That was the last bit of satisfaction the Celtics got. The Knicks went on a 19-1 run early in the second quarter, took a 20-point lead and never let up.

"Anytime you're challenged on your court, you have to step up," Coach Herb Williams said. "A little tussle here, a little tussle there, it's good for the team from time to time."

Jamal Crawford led the Knicks with 21 points, including a dunk set up by a pass to himself off the backboard. It was the second time in two weeks he has used the play, which he admitted could have drawn the ire of his opponent.

"But you only live once, and sometimes you have to take risks," he said. "The juices were flowing, we were battling back and forth talking, jawing. So I kind of had to rise to the occasion with that one."

REBOUNDS

Kurt Thomas reported significant improvement in his infected left elbow, but missed his second straight game. He has regained most of the flexibility in the joint, and he has mostly recovered from a fever that reached 102.3 degrees earlier in the week. He hopes to return Friday in Seattle. ... Doc Rivers joined the chorus lobbying the Knicks to make Herb Williams the permanent coach. "I think he's deserving of it," said Rivers, a friend and former Knicks teammate of Williams. "Herb, as far as dues and all that stuff, he's paid more dues than I did. He's been an assistant coach, he's been a player, he's done everything the right way."




[Edited by - PresIke on 01-05-2009 10:45 AM]

Wow - so that's a what... 12-13 game win streak against us we finally broke?

[Edited by - K22 on 2009-01-05 11:20 AM]