The Boston Celtics defeated the New York Knicks 114-98 on Monday night, led by Jayson Tatum’s 35 points, Jaylen Brown’s 22 points, and Kristaps Porzingis’ 21 points.
Tatum scored 17 points in the fourth quarter as Boston increased its advantage from 91-88 to 17 points. After missing his first seven 3-point tries, he hit four straight in the final eight minutes, including one on a 4-point play after the Knicks trimmed the margin to three points.
Jalen Brunson had 26 points and Julius Randle had 25 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks, who had won three straight games after starting the season 2-4, including a loss to Boston. RJ Barrett was out on the second night of a back-to-back due to a migraine problem.
With 75 seconds left in the second quarter, the Knicks led by eight points before Boston hit three straight baskets, scoring nine of the final 11 points of the half and trimming it to 53-52 on Brown’s 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Boston led by as much as ten points late in the third quarter, but the Knicks cut the deficit to 91-88 with eight minutes remaining when Brunson scored a deep three-pointer. Tatum responded with a step-back three-pointer and drew the foul, giving Boston a 95-88 lead. Jrue Holiday scored a three-pointer to make it a 10-point game.
With a third-quarter 3-pointer, Holiday surpassed 15,000 points for his career.
With roughly five minutes remaining in the game, Tatum was slapped for a technical foul for arguing about a foul call.