New York Knicks (47-32) at Boston Celtics (62-17) Game #80 4/11/24

The Celtics host the New York Knicks for the 5th and final meeting between these two teams this season. The Celtics won the first 4 meetings between them, winning 2 in Boston and 2 in New York. The Celtics won 108-104 on 10/25, 114-98 on 11/13, 133-123 on 12/8 and 116-102 on 2/24. The Knicks won the series last season 3-1, winning one game in New York and losing both games in Boston.

The Celtics are 304-189 overall all time against the New York Knicks. They are 164-68 in games played in Boston. This is the first game of back to back games for both teams. The Knicks will return to New York to take on the Nets on Friday. The Knicks are 10-2 in the first of back to back games. The Celtics will host the Charlotte Hornets on Friday. The Celtics are 12-1 in the first of back to back games and they are 6-0 when the first game is at home.

The Celtics remain in first place in the East and first place overall in the league. They are 13.5 games ahead of 2nd place Milwaukee, 15 games ahead of 3rd place New York, 15.5 games ahead of 4th place Cleveland, 16.5 games ahead of 5th place Orlando, and 16.5 games ahead of 6th place Indiana. They are 35-3 at home and 7-3 in their last 10 games. They are 39-10 against Eastern Conference teams and 15-1 against Atlantic Division teams. Theyare coming off a loss in their last game.

The Knicks are 3rd in the East, 15 games behind 1st place Boston, 1.5 games behind 2nd place Milwaukee,, half a game ahead of 4th place Cleveland, 1.5 games ahead of 5th place Orlando and 1.5 games ahead of 6th place Indiana. They are 22-18 on the road and 6-4 in their last 10 games. They are 32-17 against Eastern Conference teams and 10-5 against the Atlantic Division. They have won their last 2 games.

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The Celtics have 2 games remaining in the regular season after this one. They host the Charlotte Hornets on Friday and they host the Washington Wizards on Sunday. The Knicks also have 2 games remaining after this game. They host the Brooklyn Nets on Friday and will host the Chicago Bulls on Sunday.

The Celtics originally had 6 players on the injury report as of Wednesday night. . Oshae Brissett has been added as questionable due to an illness. As of now, only Brissett is on the Celtics injury report and all others are available other than those on assignment with Maine. With the Maine Celtics playing for the championship, both Jordan Walsh and Neemias Queta will likely be on assignment with them.

For the Knicks, Julius Randle underwent surgery on his right shoulder and will miss the remainder of the season. The only other players listed on the injury report are their two way players, Charlie Brown, Jr (concussion) and Duane Washington, Jr (knee). Both are questionable and will be a game time decision.

Probable Celtics Starters

Grid View

• Jrue Holiday Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
• Derrick White Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
• Jaylen Brown Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
• Jayson Tatum Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
• Al Horford Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Derrick White
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Kristaps Porzingis

Celtics Reserves
Svi Mykhailiuk
Jaden Springer
Sam Hauser
Luke Kornet
Payton Pritchard
Al Horford
Xavier Tillman

2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson

Injuries/Out
Oshae Brissett (illness) questionable
Jordan Walsh (Maine) out
Neemias Queta (Maine) out

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla

Probable Knicks Starters

Grid View

• Jalen Brunson Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
• Donte DiVincenzo Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
• Josh Hart Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
• OG Anunoby
• Isaiah Hartenstein Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

PG: Jalen Brunson
SG: Donte DiVincenzo
SF: Josh Hart
PF: OG Anunoby
C: Isaiah Hartenstein

Knicks Reserves
Precious Achiuwa
Alec Burks
Mamadi Diakite
Miles McBride
DaQuan Jeffries
Shake Milton
Mitchell Robinson
Jericho Sims

2 Way Players
Jacob Toppin
Duane Washington, Jr
Charlie Brown, Jr

Injuries/Out
Charlie Brown, Jr (concussion) questionable
Duane Washington, Jr (knee) questionable
Julius Randle (shoulder) out

Head Coach
Tom Thibodeau

Key Matchups

Grid View

• Jrue Holiday Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images
• Jalen Brunson Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Jrue Holiday vs Jalen Brunson
Brunson is averaging 28.4 points, 3.6 rebound, and 6.7 assists per game. He is shooting 47.8% from the field and 39.9% from beyond the arc. In 4 games against the Celtics this season he averaged 24.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.5 steals. He shoots a high percentage from 3 and so the Celtics have to defend him well on the perimeter as well as defend him going to the basket.

Grid View

• Derrick White Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images
• Donte DiVincenzo Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Derrick White vs Donte DiVincenzo
DiVincenzo is averaging 15.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He is shooting 44.2% from the field and 40.4% from beyond the arc. In 4 games against the Celtics this season, he averaged 5.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, while shooting 28.6% from the field and 35% from beyond the arc. Derrick White is the only Celtics starter who is not on the injury list at this time.

Honorable Mention
Jayson Tatum vs OG Anunoby
Anunoby has returned to the starting lineup for the Knicks after a right elbow injury that required surgery. He is averaging 14.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He is shooting 49.1% from the field and 37.3% from beyond the arc. In 2 games against the Celtics this season, he averaged 10 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 38.1% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc.

Keys to the Game
Defense - Defense is the key to winning every game. The Knicks average 112.7 points per game (20th) while the Celtics average 120.4 points per game (2nd). The Celtics have a defensive rating of 110.5 (2nd) while the Knicks have a defensive rating of 112.3 (9th). Both teams want to be defensive minded but both teams forget their defensive identity from time to time. The Celtics allowed the Bucks to shoot 53.1% from the field and 47.2% from beyond the arc on Tuesday. They have got to play tougher team defense in this game if they hope to get a win.

Rebound - The Celtics can’t score if they don’t have the ball, and the best way to get the ball is the grab rebounds. The Celtics need to rebound as a team with every Celtic battling on the boards. It will take a team effort to beat the Knicks, who are 5th in the league in rebounding with 45.2 rebounds per game. The Celtics are 2nd with 46.4 rebounds per game but tend to get lazy against physical teams that fight for rebounds. They were out-rebounded 49-38 by the Bucks. The Knicks are 2nd in the league with 16.1 second chance points per game and so the Celtics need to crash the boards to prevent giving the Knicks extra points in this game.

Be Aggressive - The Celtics need to be the more aggressive team. They have to be more aggressive in going after loose balls, in grabbing rebounds, in defending, and in going to the basket. They need to hustle and be aggressive for 48 minutes every game but especially against the Knicks because Thibs has them playing hard every game. They can win a lot of games by playing harder than their opponents and they can lose a lot of games by allowing their opponents to be the team that plays harder.

Next Man Up - It’s a given that some of the starters will be out this game and so the stay ready group needs to be ready to step up once again in their place. Some of them will need to start and others will need to come in and play extra minutes because of the Celtics being short handed. They all need to play hard and to stay focused on both ends of the court.

X-Factors
Short Handed at Home - The Celtics need to continue to take advantage of home court while the Knicks will face a hostile crowd and an unfamiliar arena along with travel which will hopefully give the Celtics the edge. It’s unclear who will play and who will sit in this game and so the game may be a lot tougher depending on who is available to play.

Officiating - Officiating always has the potential to be an x-factor. Each officiating crew calls the game differently. Some refs call it tight and constantly call fouls while others let them play with few fouls called. On Tuesday, the Celtics became the first team in NBA history to go an entire game without taking a foul shot. The Celtics need to adjust to how the refs are calling the game and not allow bad calls or no calls to take away their focus. The Celtics can’t afford to allow the other team to go on playing while Celtics players are hanging back and complaining about calls.

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