Win, Win, Win, Win
The New York Knicks entering Boston on the second night of a back-to-back came in looking for an upwards trajectory.
One of the more surprising developments to begin this season is the fact that the Knicks weren’t the only team playing on Wednesday night looking for the same as well, and now alarms are ringing.
The New York Knicks squandered a huge lead to the Boston Celtics but still came away with a 117-109 win at the TD Garden Arena on Wednesday night to snap their six-game losing streak.
Trey Burke scored 29 points while collecting 11 assists and six rebounds as the Knicks beat the Celtics for the first time since December 21st of last year.
Scoring 18 of his 29 points in the first half, He scored on two huge baskets with under a minute left in the game as he hit a jumper off the backboard and a 3-pointer over Jayson Tatum to ice the game on his next shot attempt.
The former Michigan alum is enjoying one of the best stretches of his career as he is averaging 25.7 PPG off the bench for the Knicks over his past four games.
Leading by eight after the first quarter, the New York Knicks opened up a 26-point lead in the second quarter as the Knicks scored 39 points in the quarter.
Boston battled back to cut into the large deficit near the end of the first half and early in the third quarter got the game within 10 points on several occasions.
New York would ballon the lead to 21 points early in the fourth quarter, but the Celtics — aided by free throws — made a huge rally with the efforts of Gordon Hayward and Marcus Morris proving key.
They cut New York’s lead to four with 1:05 remaining in the game after a Gordon Hayward 3-pointer and then to three points after Al Horford split a pair of free throws at the line.
As mentioned, it would be Trey Burke playing the hero here, turning back the scrappy but struggling Boston Celtics, who fell to 9-9 on the season.
The New York Knicks (5-14) banged home 15 3-pointers in Beantown on Wednesday night, taking advantage of lackadaisical defense by the Boston Celtics.
They would also shoot 49.4 percent from the field while holding Boston to 39.2 percent from the field.
Kyrie Irving scored a team-high 22 points, but on just 9-for-25 shooting, and six Celtics finished in double figures, but it would not be enough in what was their third consecutive loss.
A day after playing a close one at home with the Portland Trail Blazers in a losing effort, New York’s effort level on the road vs a team that coming into the season was looked at as favorites to reach the NBA Finals from the Eastern Conference was nothing short of impressive.
New York was expected to get rolled, but it was David Fizdale’s Knicks doing the rolling for the most part. Cleaning up their ability to hold onto a lead and not have to play in a nail biter down the stretch is a point of improvement that players like Trey Burke even acknowledged in his halftime interview before heading to the locker room.
Tonight, they didn’t fold like they have on several occasions this season, but nonetheless, allowing Boston to nearly steal this one was frightening for any Knicks fan watching the game.
The New York Knicks will return home to face the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night at Madison Square Garden as they look for their first home victory since October 29th.
What are your thoughts on New York’s impressive win in Boston? Leave your comments below!
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