Celtics Wrap: Jaylen Brown Shrinks In Big Moment In OT Loss Vs. Knicks

The Boston Celtics came up short against the New York Knicks, 120-117, to lose their third consecutive game Thursday night at TD Garden.

The Celtics dropped to 34-16 on their season, while the Knicks improved to 27-23.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Celtics needed to get themselves back in the win column, and were positioned to do just that against a subpar Eastern Conference foe. However, they fell flat when given an opportunity to do so.

And it wasn’t pretty, to say the least.

With just seven seconds left and an opportunity to put Boston ahead in overtime, Jaylen Brown choked with back-to-back free-throw misses, which the Knicks capitalized.

The Knicks, who entered the contest 1-15 when trailing at halftime this season, fought through all 48 minutes. And while New York has been mediocre for the better part of the season, the Knicks also have an elite duo — as was evident — in Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson. The pair combined to score 66 points as the only 20-plus-point scorers from New York’s offense.

To make matters worse, the Celtics were arguably their sloppiest of any second half all season long. Boston couldn’t find stops and simultaneously struggled to limit the severity of its mistakes. Meanwhile, the Knicks countered and tallied 22 points off 13 Celtics turnovers to fight back from an early 15-point lead in the first quarter.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Randle flirted with a season-high 37 points to lead all scorers. He connected on five 3-pointers and collected nine rebounds with two assists.

— Jayson Tatum, who was named a starter to the All-Star Game before tip off, led the Celtics with some late-game heroics. Tatum scored the equalizing bucket to send the game into overtime and gave Boston new life. The 24-year-old finished with 35 points and 12 rebounds to record his 20th double-double of the season.

— Brunson played Robin to Randle’s Batman for the Knicks. The veteran guard scored 29 points with four rebounds, one assist and one steal.

WAGER WATCH
DraftKings Sportsbook set the odds of Malcolm Brogdon’s assist total at 3.5 with -160 odds on the over before game time. Brogdon, who struggled to get shots to fall (3/10 FG), collected four assists to clear those odds. A $100 bet would’ve netted a $162.50 total payout.

UP NEXT
The Celtics will host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, who enter as the Western Conference’s 12th seed, at TD Garden next. Tip off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET. on Sunday.