The Knicks’ lost streak of five games is over. All it took was a showdown with the top Eastern Conference team.
The Celtics missed Jayson Tatum and didn’t look good, and the Knicks took advantage and brought the energy to run with a dominant 105-75 win on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden.
The Knicks (6-8) were never left behind, with a whopping 37-point lead to break out of their funk and give Coach Tom Thibodeau a gift on his 63rd birthday. The defense led the way and kept the Celtics (8-4) at a season low in points.
Despite their recent struggles, the Knicks are now winning their own blowout against the Celtics and Bucks, two of the Eastern Conference’s best teams.
Julius Randle (20 points, 12 rebounds), RJ Barrett (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Immanuel Quickley (17 points, eight assists) fed the Knicks while Obi Toppin scored 12 points in the winning attempt.
Amid questions about shaking up the lineup, Thibodeau stuck with the same starting five, and they came off the tip strongly to establish an early lead. Randle and Barrett combined for 19 points and 10 rebounds in the first quarter while the Knicks took a 28-17 lead after the first 12 minutes.
Jaylen Brown kept the Celtics early in the game, scoring 11 points in the first quarter, but otherwise they looked sloppy early after playing just one game in the past week due to problems with COVID-19.
Mitchell Robinson, after sustaining a bruised right heel against the Cavaliers on Friday, remained in the Knicks starting line-up, but was soon hit again. Halfway through the first quarter, Robinson blocked a 3-pointer from Jeff Teague, but landed hard with nothing to support his fall. He returned in the second quarter, but still seemed to be moving cautiously.
The Celtics came in six points in the middle of the second quarter, 35-29, but Quickley delivered another shock from the bench to spark a Knicks wave. The rookie point guard set up an alley for Toppin, after which he hurt the Celtics with three floaters on the next five possessions to take a 44-29 lead, while Quickley took 11 points in the second quarter alone.
The Knicks took a 48-35 lead at half time, with the 35 points marking a season low that was allowed in the half.
Thibodeau’s side offered no disappointment to start the second half, went on a 10-0 run to start the third quarter and scrapped any chance of a Celtics return.
Kemba Walker, the Bronx native whom the Knicks missed in the summer of 2019, made his season debut after a knee injury. However, he looked quite rusty, adding to the Celtics’ rough afternoon.