Knicks Fail To Come Through For Celtics To Squash NBA Cup Hopes

A team from New York wasn’t really going to help out a team from Boston, right?

Well, the Knicks got close to lending a helping hand to the Celtics on Tuesday night, but it wasn’t enough to keep Boston in the NBA Cup.

The Celtics were officially eliminated from the in-season tournament on point differential as they needed the Knicks to win by at least 37 points against the Orlando Magic after the Milwaukee Bucks blew out the Detroit Pistons. New York led by as much as 37 points in the third quarter, but couldn’t maintain that advantage and only took a 121-106 win.

The Magic ended up advancing to the NBA Cup’s knockout round with a plus-45 differential, which was better than Boston’s plus-23 mark. The Bucks, Knicks and Atlanta Hawks, who handed the Celtics their only NBA Cup loss, are the other Eastern Conference teams to advance to the knockout round.

With the Celtics out of the NBA Cup, they will have two games added to their schedule. The contests will be played either on Dec. 12 or 13 and Dec. 15 or 16. The matchups for those games are expected to be announced late Tuesday night.

The two additional games will be the only game action for the Celtics over an 11-day span, giving them ample time to rest after a long run to an NBA title last season.

The Celtics aim to improve their record to 18-4 when they host the Pistons on Wednesday. Tipoff from TD Garden is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.