Three Studs, Three Duds As Celtics Collapse To Knicks In Game 1 OT Loss

The Boston Celtics renewed their longtime rivalry with the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at TD Garden on Monday night.

It marked the first time in 12 years since Boston and New York met in the playoffs, and set the stage for the much-anticipated Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown versus Jalen Brunson-Karl-Anthony Towns duel. Yet, unlike the first four previews that the Celtics and Knicks provided in the regular season, the first of Round 2 wasn’t a one-sided affair.

Brunson’s Knicks didn’t fear the reigning champions. They sliced right through a 20-point Celtics lead in the third quarter, countered on a few untimely Boston early exits — both Kristaps Porzingis and Sam Hauser left the game early — and sent an early message. New York claimed it didn’t care about being the underdog before taking the floor, and the team showed it by overcoming a 20-point lead to shock the Celtics and claim a 1-0 series lead.

Here are three studs and three duds from Boston’s 108-105 Game 1 overtime loss to New York:

STUDS
Jalen Brunson
New York’s (clutch) heart and soul embraced every ounce of pressure.

Brunson channeled his inner playoff self and scored a game-high 29 points for the pesky Knicks. The 28-year-old carried himself with a level of confidence that was contagious amongst New York’s bench. Brunson shredded the Celtics in isolation, ripping a page right out of Boston’s book by knocking down five 3-pointers. He beat the Celtics at their own game and in response, Boston had nothing.

Jrue Holiday
When the going got tough, Holiday was ready.

Holiday was the blue-collared workhorse the Celtics needed, grabbing offensive rebounds left and right to create second-chance shot attempts. While Boston was hucking and missing inopportune threes, Holiday was battling under the glass and pitching in with a solid return performance of his own. The two-time champion scored 16 points with six rebounds and three assists to notch a plus-two rating, the best of any Boston starter.

Mikal Bridges
Nobody worked harder than Bridges in Game 1.

Bridges played 51 minutes, testing the unofficial NBA labor laws, and made the most of every single one. When the contest entered its overtime period, Bridges quickly silenced the Boston crowd by blocking a Holiday 3-point attempt, securing a steal and then knocking down a go-ahead 3-pointer of his own to give the Knicks a 106-100 lead.

DUDS
Boston’s health
Everyone knows health can make or break any team’s championship hunt, and the Celtics are no exception to that rule.

Porzingis became Boston’s first fallen soldier when the 7-footer was removed from the floor in the second quarter. Immediately, concerns began to loom about the injury-prone Celtics center before it was revealed that Porzingis wouldn’t return due to an illness. Porzingis struggled, shooting 0-for-4 from the field and participated in warm-ups following halftime, but that was the last time he was seen on the floor.

Sam Hauser, too, made an early departure after contesting an OG Anunoby 3-point attempt in the closing seconds of the third quarter. Hauser, who was also scoreless, went down to the ground and was assisted to Boston’s locker room with a right ankle sprain that sidelined him for the remainder of the night.

The Celtics allowed the Knicks to go on a 20-9 run to end the third quarter.

Jayson Tatum’s decisiveness
Whenever the Celtics needed a Tatum takeover, the six-time All-Star was nowhere to be found.

Tatum continued to lean heavily on going with the Mazzulla-ball route, even though he only managed to shoot 4-of-15 from beyond the arc. It was repetitive, predictable and offered the Knicks an inadvertent advantage because, without Tatum’s willingness to drive, New York’s defense didn’t have to do much work outside of looking out for Holiday. Tatum even decided to shoot a step-back three in the closing seconds of regulation during a possession that could’ve sealed the win for Boston.

He finished with a 23-point, 16-rebound double-double that ultimately went to waste.

Boston’s adaptability
The reason the Orlando Magic had a difficult time overcoming the Celtics was because of their ability to abandon the 3-pointer and find scoring opportunities elsewhere.

For some reason, Boston elected to punt on its ability to adapt and instead go the lousy route. Instead of turning toward inside scoring, the Celtics played AAU isolation basketball, drove and immediately turned in search of a kick-out opportunity for a contested 3-point attempt they didn’t need to take. Boston shot 15-of-60 from three to announce its committed blueprint of self-destruction to everyone in attendance at TD Garden.

It was ugly, inefficient, and the worst we’ve seen from head coach Joe Mazzulla since his first season at the helm.