The Boston Celtics moved to within two wins of an unprecedented NBA playoff series victory by beating the New York Knicks 92-86 on Wednesday, slicing their deficit in the series to 3-2 and with the contest to now shift back to Boston.
Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Celtics, who are bidding to become the first team to come from 3-0 down to win a series 4-3.
“We’re still down. Our mentality has to be all-out,” Garnett said. “It can’t be anything [else].”
Photo: AFP
In Wednesday’s other games, Indiana had a comfortable home win over Atlanta to go up 3-2, while Houston won at Oklahoma City to also close their deficit to 3-2.
Houston played without starting point guard Jeremy Lin for the second straight game because of a bruised chest muscle.
Boston’s Brandon Bass added 17 points, steadying Boston as they shook off an 11-0 deficit and pulled away in the second half to again stop the Knicks sealing their first playoff series victory since 2000.
Photo: AFP
“We didn’t panic and that’s something we’ve done, but we didn’t,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “Once the game got back to that five, six area, our guys were good again.”
Carmelo Anthony scored 22 points, but was just eight of 24 in another dismal shooting night for the Knicks, who blew a big lead in this game and now the series. They face an unwanted trip back to Boston instead of the rest their aging roster needs before the second round.
“We’re fine,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “Sure we would’ve loved to close it out and move on, but nobody said it would be easy.”
If Boston manage to square the series 3-3, the Knicks would host Game 7 on Sunday.
“I told you from Game 1 that this wasn’t going to be a breeze, it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, them guys were going to fight and they’re showing some fight right now,” Anthony said. “They threw a couple punches at us now and it’s time for us to do the same.”
The Celtics were the first of the eight NBA teams that have come from 3-1 down, beating Philadelphia in 1968, and put themselves on the short list of teams that have erased a 2-0 deficit the next year in the NBA Finals.
So perhaps it would be fitting if they were the first to overcome 3-0.
“That would be wonderful, and someone’s going to do it and I want it to be us, since that’s the situation we’re in,” Rivers said before the game. “Someone will do it, and I really want to be a part of that.”
Indiana also hold a slim 3-2 advantage after a 106-83 home win over the Atlanta Hawks.
David West scored 24 points and Paul George had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who have won all three home games in the best-of-seven series and are 5-0 at home this season against the Hawks.
They’ll go to Atlanta today with a chance to clinch the best-of-seven series, but the Hawks have won 13 straight at home against the Pacers, including both games in this series.
Atlanta were led by Josh Smith and Al Horford, who each had 14 points, and it was every bit as ugly as the Hawks’ first two double-digit losses in Indy.
Indiana took the lead for good midway through the second quarter and opened the third period on a 12-3 run to make it 62-46. The Pacers put it away when the Hawks lost their composure.
Houston also avoided elimination by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 107-100, with James Harden scoring 31 points and sinking seven three-pointers while fighting through flu-like symptoms.
Harden made the first seven threes he tried and Houston led by as many as 16 before fending off a rally that Oklahoma City helped stymie with their own strategy.
The Thunder, apparently doubting they could overcome an eight-point lead on their home court without Russell Westbrook, resorted to intentionally fouling Omer Asik — a 54 percent career foul shooter — with 5:33 to play.
Asik went eight for 12 from the line, extending Houston’s lead to 101-92 with 3:53 remaining before Oklahoma City gave up the tactic.
Kevin Durant finished with 36 points for Oklahoma City.
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care
With the release of the latest table tennis mixed-doubles rankings on Tuesday, Taiwan is guaranteed participation in all five table tennis disciplines at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. On Tuesday, after losing to French opponents Alexis Lebrun and Yuan Jianan (袁嘉楠) at the World Table Tennis Saudi Smash 2024 during the round of 16, the International Table Tennis Federation ranked Taiwanese paddlers Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒) and Chen Szu-yu (陳思羽) as world No. 5 in the mixed-doubles. The placement of the two Taiwanese table tennis players secured them a ticket to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. Speaking with CNA, head coach Wu
Caitlin Clark on Thursday walked into her new home arena with No. 22 shirts and jerseys peppered from floor to ceiling. She left as a first-time WNBA winner. A late-arriving, but louder-than-usual crowd roared during her official introduction to Fever fans and again when Clark made her first basket, a layup with 7 minutes left in the first quarter. The cheers grew when she completed a three-point play a few minutes later and hit a crescendo when she finally made a long three-pointer from the edge of the fieldhouse logo late in the third quarter. Clark successfully navigated the city’s most anticipated rookie