Celtics Slog Past Knicks In New York, Keep Hold Of Eighth Seed In East

Beautiful basketball, it was not, but the Boston Celtics did just enough Friday night to leave Madison Square Garden with a 96-92 win over the NBA-worst New York Knicks.

SUBPAR START
The Celtics employed an extremely balanced offense in the early going, with nine players making one field goal before any made two. Jonas Jerebko became the first with two makes when he sank a layup at the 8:48 mark of the second quarter. The C’s did not play particularly good defense during this stretch, and the Knicks led 22-21 at the end of the first quarter.

Boston finally began to assert itself in the second. Spurred by the play of Jae Crowder (17 points, nine rebounds, two steals), the Celtics took back the lead and then extended it to double digits before taking a 47-39 advantage into the locker room.

The Knicks were able to stay within striking distance throughout the second half, though, thanks in large part to Boston’s 16 turnovers and 25 points by top scorer Andrea Bargnani.

THOMAS STILL SHAKY, BUT IMPROVING
Isaiah Thomas looked much more comfortable in his second game since returning from a lower back injury, but the point guard’s shot still showed a fair amount of rust.

In the highlight of his first half, Thomas banked home an and-one 3-pointer and sank the ensuing free throw to put the Celtics ahead with 58 seconds to play in the first quarter.

Not exactly what you’d call a high-percentage shot.

Thomas hit on just one of his first seven field-goal attempts but did find his stroke late, going 3-for-6 from the floor to end the game. He also took care of business at the free-throw line, sinking eight of nine free throws to finish with 18 points and six assists — both team highs.

PLAYOFF PICTURE
With the Celtics winning and the Miami Heat falling to the Atlanta Hawks, Boston now sits just one game back of Miami for the seventh playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Brooklyn Nets also won Friday to remain a half-game back of the C’s, while the Charlotte Hornets lost to fall to 1 1/2 games back. The idle Indiana Pacers now sit one game back of the eighth spot.

Up next: The degree of difficulty now ratchets back up for the Celtics, who host old friend Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.

Thumbnail photo via Anthony Gruppuso/USA TODAY Sports Images