Takeaways from the New York Knicks’ stunning come-from-behind 108–105 overtime win over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals …
Is Jalen Brunson the best closer in the game?
Uh, yes. After putting Ausar Thompson in a blender to send the Detroit Pistons packing in Game 6 of New York’s first-round series, Brunson’s brilliance was on full display in the second half on Monday. Brunson scored 20 points in the second half on 6-of-10 shooting. He scored 11 in the fourth quarter on 3-of-5 shooting. He engineered a 20-point comeback with 18 minutes to play against one of the NBA’s top defenses (Boston finished fourth in defensive rating) that deployed against him one of the league’s top defenders (Jrue Holiday).
In Game 1, the NBA’s recently crowned Clutch Player of the Year played like one.
“He just lives for the moment,” Mikal Bridges said. “He wants to be the guy. Especially on the road, to silence the crowd, lead us to victory. It’s just who he is.”
Incredible. At (listed) 6' 2" and with a below-the-rim game, Brunson’s dominance down the stretch is remarkable. It wasn’t just Holiday who Brunson cooked. It was Derrick White, an elite backcourt defender. It was Payton Pritchard, the recently named Sixth Man of the Year. On switches, Brunson stared down Al Horford, as good as any big in the league at defending the perimeter. It didn’t matter. Brunson burned them all.
“He’s mastered the fundamentals,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s had size on him. He’s had small, quick guys. He’s dealt with the double teams. He knows how to create spaces. He’s not going to fight the double teams, he can make the right play and keep moving. He knows how to get open.”
“We told each other to just keep believing,” Brunson said. “And just keep fighting and sticking together and to keep chipping away. There wasn’t going to be a 20-point shot. We had to keep chipping away, possession by possession. And find a way to keep getting stops.”
The three-point shot failed Boston
You know the numbers: Record number of three-pointers made during a regular season, record number of attempts, leads in per game makes (17.8) and attempts (48.2) that blow past the previous high marks. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla often says there’s no limit to the number of threes he’s comfortable with his team taking, and Boston plays like it.
Well, the Celtics can add another record: most misses (45) in a playoff game. Boston fired up 60 threes in Game 1, connecting on just 15 of them. In the third quarter, 19 of Boston’s 20 shots were threes. Jaylen Brown was 1-for-10, Jayson Tatum 4-for-15, while White finished 5-for-16. In the fourth quarter, the Celtics connected on 13.3% of their threes.
“To me, I look at the process and the shot quality,” Mazzulla said. “The shot quality was high. The points in the paint were even … you have to take a look at the process of what we’re trying to accomplish, and we were able to accomplish good results for the most part.”
Look: Boston should be a prolific three-point shooting team. The Celtics go seven deep with above-average three-point shooters. But there needs to be a little balance. The Celtics played Game 1 like three-pointers were the only acceptable shots. White passed up a wide-open four-footer in the fourth quarter to pass out for a three. Minutes later, Horford passed on a layup. Later, Brown admitted some of the threes felt forced.
The analytics say Boston is great when it shoots a lot of threes; it went 28–5 in the regular season when it attempted between 50 and 59. Still, a few less and the Celtics may not be in an 0–1 hole.
OG Anunoby outplayed Jayson Tatum
New York got plenty of contributions from its role players, but perhaps none bigger than Anunoby’s. Tatum was brilliant against the Knicks during the regular season, averaging 33.5 points per game. He was held to 23 in Game 1, on 7-for-23 shooting. Credit for that goes to Anunoby, who racked up 29 points on the offensive end. If Anunoby outplays Tatum in this series, it won’t go well for Boston.
Mazzulla had a bad game
Mazzulla should have pushed his team to go to the rim more, admitting after the game that there were probably “five to 10” shots Boston could have been better at. But it was more than that. In the first half, Mazzulla executed the Hack-a-Mitch strategy on Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. It was effective: Robinson was 2-of-8 from the free throw line, which effectively stalled the Knicks offense and helped Boston build a 16-point halftime lead. He played nine minutes in the second half and wasn’t “hacked” once.
What gives? Why was hacking Robinson a good idea in the second quarter but not utilized in the third? By keeping Robinson off the free throw line, the Knicks were able to chip away at Boston’s lead. New York connected on 56% of its threes in the third, slicing the deficit to single digits, giving Brunson, er, the Knicks a chance to win.
Want more? The play-calling was uninspiring. Boston’s offense in the final five minutes was filled with stepback jumpers and contested threes. He didn’t take a timeout early in Boston’s final possession in overtime, allowing the Knicks to burn their last foul with three seconds left. On the ensuing play, after using two timeouts, what Boston got was a crosscourt pass to Brown who was blanketed by Bridges, who sealed the game with a steal.
Is this an aberration or a sign of things to come?
Historically, teams that win Game 1 go on to win 75.6% of playoff series. But the Celtics owned the Knicks during the regular season. They swept the season series 4–0, won two games by 23-plus points and three by double digits. On paper, Boston should still feel good about its chances.
But there are warning signs. Kristaps Porzingis was ineffective in the first half and missed the second with an illness. It’s unclear if the illness is connected to the same upper respiratory illness that cost Porzingis eight games in the second half of the season, but it’s worth monitoring. Brown, who has been playing through a knee injury, looked a step slow. At full strength Boston is still the better team. But will it be at full strength?
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Knicks-Celtics Takeaways: Jalen Brunson Heats Up, Celtics’ Shooting Woes.