New York Knicks

BOSTON – (Wire Service and Staff Report) – Jalen Brunson tossed in a game-high 39 points to help the visiting New York Knicks extend their winning streak to three games by beating the Boston Celtics 118-109 Thursday.

Brunson scored six points in the first quarter, 12 in the second and had 21 in the third. He made 15 of his 23 field goal attempts, including 6-of-11 3-point shots from behind the 3-point arc.

New York (48-32) remained in third place in the Eastern Conference standings, one game behind the Milwaukee Bucks (49-31). The Celtics (62-18), who have lost two straight, had previously secured the No. 1 seed in the East.

Donte DiVincenzo added 17 for the Knicks, who got 16 points and 16 rebounds from Josh Hart. Isaiah Hartenstein finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.

Jayson Tatum led Boston with 18 points and seven assists. Boston received 15 points from Jaylen Brown and 14 points and eight rebounds from Kristaps Porzingis.

It was the fifth and final regular-season meeting this season. Boston won the first four.

The Knicks led 32-29 after one quarter and outscored the Celtics 37-19 in the second to take a 69-48 halftime lead. Boston trailed 47-45, but New York took control with a 17-0 run and was up 64-45 following a Brunson 3-pointer with 2:18 remaining in the half. The Knicks scored 25 of the final 30 points in the first half.

New York had a 32-17 rebounding advantage through the first two quarters, including a 12-3 edge at the offensive end. Brunson, who has scored at least 30 points in each of his last six games, led all scorers with 18 points in the half.

The Knicks were up 90-71 after the third quarter and had a 31-point lead in the fourth. Boston rested its starters in the final quarter.

New York held a 52-36 edge in rebounds.

–Field Level Media

NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report)  – Celtics F/G Jaylen Brown collected 30 points and eight rebounds to help the visiting Boston Celtics extend their winning streak to eight games by beating the New York Knicks 116-102 Saturday night.

Boston made 15 of its 35 3-point attempts and shot 56.8 percent from the field.

Knicks’ All-Star guard Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 34 points and had nine assists for the Knicks, who dropped to 0-4 against the Celtics this season. Josh Hart added 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists for New York, and Precious Achiuwa finished with eight points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Celtics led by four points at halftime and outscored the Knicks 35-26 in the third. New York failed to cut its deficit below nine points in the final quarter.

The Celtics received 22 points from Kristaps Porzingis and 19 points, six rebounds and six assists from Jayson Tatum. Six Boston players scored at least 10 points, and the Celtics had a 58-38 edge in points in the paint.

Boston ended the opening quarter on a 9-2 run and had a 30-26 advantage after 12 minutes. The Celtics extended their lead to 56-46 on a traditional three-point play by Porzingis with 3:26 remaining in the second quarter, but the Knicks closed the gap to 62-58 at halftime.

Brown led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting in the first half. Brunson had 19 points in the half.

It was 64-64 following a Brunson free throw with 10:47 left in the third, but Boston went on a 33-13 run and had a 97-77 lead after a Tatum 3-pointer with 1:39 left in the quarter. Boston made 9 of its 13 3-point attempts in the third, but the Knicks scored the final seven points in the quarter to trim Boston’s lead to 97-84 after three.

Donte Divincenzo (12 points) and Miles McBride (11 points) were the only other players who scored in double figures for the Knicks, who turned the ball over 14 times.

–Field Level Media

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Celtics will try to remain unbeaten at home this season and defeat the New York Knicks for the third time in as many meetings when the teams tip-off tonight.

Jayson Tatum scored 34 points in Boston’s 108-104 season-opening win in New York on Oct. 25. He added 35 in the Celtics’ 114-98 victory over the visiting Knicks on Nov. 13.

Tatum contributed 32 points and 12 rebounds on Monday as Boston dropped a 122-112 decision to the Indiana Pacers in an NBA in-season tournament quarterfinal clash. The setback meant that the Celtics would be staying home for their next game, as opposed to traveling west to Las Vegas for the semifinals of the tournament.

“I wanted to (expletive) go to Vegas,” Tatum said. “I didn’t want to go home. I wanted to go to Vegas. Next year, I guess.”

Jaylen Brown collected 30 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics, who saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt.

Kristaps Porzingis expects to be in the lineup on Friday after sitting out the past four games due to a low-grade strain in his left calf. The Celtics said he is “available” to play on Friday morning.

“Of course, everybody was a little bit upset and mad at ourselves for not getting it done (against the Pacers),” Porzingis said. “But me especially, not being able to help out there, it hurts, especially knowing the vision that we had. But this is how it goes and that’s it. As I said, we’ll be back.”

Like the Celtics, the Knicks were bounced from the NBA in-season tournament with a 146-122 setback to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.

Eastern Conference Player of the Week Julius Randle erupted for a season-high 41 points for New York, which had won three in a row and 10 of 13 prior to that loss.

Randle made 14 of 19 shots from the floor and 11 of 12 attempts from the free-throw line versus Milwaukee.

“Just getting to my kill zones,” Randle told Newsday of his improved play. “The spots that I’m comfortable getting to on the floor and creating a shot for myself, my teammates.”

New York coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t interested in handing Randle a verbal bouquet, however. He had bigger fish to fry.

“I’m more concerned with taking a good, hard look at what we have to improve defensively,” Thibodeau said. “Obviously, we fell very short in that area.”

Jalen Brunson agreed after the Knicks allowed the Bucks to shoot a robust 60.4 percent from the floor and 60.5 percent from 3-point range.

“Defensively we didn’t really do anything all game. That’s the story. That’s it,” Brunson said. “I mean, offensively we were playing fine. Defensively, on that side of the ball, we just didn’t do anything. That’s it.”

Brunson, who averages a team-best 24.9 points per game, scored 24 on Tuesday. He had a team-high 26 points in the most recent meeting against Boston.

RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley each had 24 points in the season-opening loss to the Celtics.

–Field Level Media

NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire service Report) – Boston’s newly acquired center Kristaps Porzingis scored nine of his 30 points in the final 2:34 on Wednesday night for the visiting Celtics as they overcame a late six-point deficit to beat the New York Knicks, 108-104, in the season opener for both teams.

Porzingis drained all six of his free throws down the stretch and hit a key three-pointer with 1:29 left that put Boston ahead for good at 104-101. His perfect performance from the foul line highlighted a fourth quarter in which the Celtics made 14 of 15 free throws. They finished the game 22-for-26 from the line.

Porzingis’ 30 points are the most ever by a Celtics player in his first game for the team. The 7-foot-3 center, who spent the first three seasons of his career with the Knicks, was acquired from the Washington Wizards on June 23.

Boston all-star Jayson Tatum (34 points, 11 rebounds) had a double-double for the Celtics, who led by as many as 12 in the third quarter and opened the fourth with a nine-point lead before the Knicks stormed back, rocking Madison Square Garden as though it was 1969-70.

New York’s RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley each had 24 points for the Knicks, who were 18 of 41 from 3-point land but just 14 of 26 from the free-throw line, including 5 of 9 in the fourth quarter.

Knicks’ center Julius Randle (14 points. 11 rebounds) had a double-double while point guard Jalen Brunson scored 15 points but shot just 6-for-21 from the field. NY’s Quentin Grimes added 11 points.

Barrett scored the first seven points of the fourth to begin a 13-2 run for the Knicks, who took their first lead at 86-84 on Josh Hart’s 3-pointer with 8:56 left. New York twice opened up a six-point lead, the last time at 101-95 on Brunson’s floater with 3:39 left, before Jrue Holiday’s layup began the Celtics’ game-ending run.

The Knicks missed their next six shots from the field, a span in which Porzingis scored nine unanswered points. Isaiah Hartenstein converted a putback with 18 seconds left to cut the Celtics’ lead to 106-104, but Payton Pritchard hit a pair of free throws and Brunson missed two 3-point attempts in the waning seconds.

Boston led 51-46 at the break behind 19 points from Tatum. Barrett paced New York with 14.