NEW YORK — The New York Knicks, who opened their season with a blowout loss in Boston, entered Saturday night viewing their rematch with the defending-champion Celtics as a measuring stick of sorts as they approach the All-Star break.
They exited Madison Square Garden having gotten a clear answer about where they stand: Far behind the Celtics, who routed the Knicks, 131-104, just like they did back in October.
The 27-point setback — New York’s largest of the season — was an eye-opening one, given that the Knicks had won seven of their last eight and entered having been just 1.5 games back of the second-place Celtics.
“Unacceptable,” said Knicks captain Jalen Brunson, who scored a team-high 36 points on just 18 shots. “We’re not where we want to be.”
One day earlier, he’d said he looked forward to seeing how his team measured up with Boston after showing improvements — and cohesion with newcomers Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges — since the start of the campaign.
But many of the same problems that existed on opening night for the Knicks showed up again on Saturday. Specifically, they had no answer for Jayson Tatum, who threw down an enormous slam on the second play of the contest en route to 40 points for the evening. The All-Star seemed to get whatever he wanted in one-on-one matchups with New York’s wings, and shot 13-for-26 overall and 7-for-14 from the arc.
The Knicks (34-18) were without stopper OG Anunoby, who’s mending following a recent foot sprain. But the Celtics were down two starters: guard Jrue Holiday and former Knick Kristaps Porzingis, who was a late scratch with a non-COVID illness. Luke Kornet was told late in the pregame process that he’d be filling for Porzingis, and he did so by shooting 7-for-7 for 14 points, 12 boards and three blocks.
“Big Luke played his ass off today,” Tatum said of Kornet’s showing.
Tatum was the best player on the floor, though, and said he enjoyed putting on a show with famed actor Denzel Washington sitting courtside with friend and Academy Award-winning film director Spike Lee.
Boston (37-16) dominated most of the game, but the Knicks-powered by Brunson’s trips to the line-made things interesting briefly, cutting their deficit to three midway through the third.
It was at that point that Tatum and Brown provided all the Celtics’ scoring during a 19-3 spurt that essentially put the contest away; enough to where Tatum was able to sit the final six minutes of the game, and massive pockets of the crowd — including Lee and Washington — started heading for the exits several minutes early.
The Knicks — 23-6 against sub-.500 clubs, but just 11-12 against teams with records .500 or better — are still trying to prove they belong in the same sentence with the league’s elite. They’re 0-3 against Cleveland and Boston, who sit in first and second place, respectively, in the East. And they dropped both of their contests against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who currently own the league’s best mark.
“We’ve had a target on our back the whole year, and we understood that going into the season. I think every game [against us] is probably a measuring stick,” White said. “It’s just on us to have the right mindset.”
In the other locker room, the Knicks pointed out the obvious: That as much as they may have improved over the course of the season, they still aren’t close to the Celtics’ level yet.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. Simple as that. There’s no sugarcoating it. There’s no moral wins,” said Towns, who finished with a quiet nine-point, nine-rebound outing Saturday. “If we’ve got aspirations, which I know we do, then we’ve got to find ways to win games like tonight. That’s a team that’s in the race. Great teams, championship teams, they test your discipline. And we’ve got to work on keeping our discipline for all 48 [minutes].”
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