Knicks Must Regain Footing Against Rugged Celtics
The Knicks prepared for a funeral at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, instead they were present at their own wake. The Boston Celtics have breathed new life into a series many – especially those in Gotham – thought was over just a few days ago with their 92-86 win at the Garden. Now, the Knicks may not even get a chance to celebrate their first series win since 2000, when they defeated Toronto in the first round and Miami in the second, before coming up short against Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals.
As the series shifts back to Boston on Friday night for Game 6, so to does the momentum. The Celtics let their game do the talking yesterday, and once the Knicks cooled off from their fast 11-0 start in Game 5, it was all green from that point on and Boston now find themselves in a situation where they could possibly level this series 3-3 tomorrow. Boston’s game spoke volumes.
“No shenanigans, no nothing,” said Boston’s defensive anchor Kevin Garnett. “We know what they running, they know what we’re running. Just all out: Who wants this? That’s all it is.
“They [Knicks] came out and they talked. The discipline of being consistent with who we are, it’s important not to fall into that.”
Even though they won’t admit it, the Knicks must surely be a little shaken up at the moment. No NBA team has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit to win, but these proud Celtics are hell bent on becoming the first. They outplayed the Knicks – they were more physical, clamped down on defense, and got key contributions from guys like Jason Terry (17 points, 5/9 3 PT) and Jeff Green (18 points, 5/9 F/G). Now it’s up to New York to respond.
After the game, Carmelo Anthony (22 points, 8/24 F/G) said that New York didn’t expect Boston to go down without a fight.
“I told you from Game 1 this wasn’t going to be an easy breeze or a walk in the park,” Anthony said. “Those guys were going to fight. They threw a couple of punches, and now it is time for us to do the same.”