Knicks (47-32) at Celtics (62-17) Game #80 4/11/24

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
New York Knicks (47-32) at Boston Celtics (62-17)
Thursday, April 11, 2024
7:30  PM ET
Regular Season Game #80  Home Game #39
TV: TNT, truTV
Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub, 98.7 ESPN NY, Sirius XM
TD Garden



Probable Celtics Starters
PG SG SFPF C
PG:  Payton Pritchard
SG:  Derrick White
SF:  Sam Hauser
PF:  Oshae Brissett
C:   Luke Kornet

Celtics Reserves
Svi Mykhailiuk
Jaden Springer

2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson

Injuries/Out
Xavier Tillman (knee) questionable
Jayson Tatum (knee) questionable
Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) questionable
Jrue Holiday (knee) questionable
Jaylen Brown (hand) questionable
Al Horford (toe) questionable
Jordan Walsh (Maine) out
Neemias Queta (Maine) out

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla


Probable Starters
PG SG SF PF C
PG:  Jalen Brunson
SG:  Donte DiVincenzo
SF:   Josh Hart
PF:  OG Anunoby
C:   Isaiah Hartenstein

Knicks Reserves
Precious Achiuwa
Alec Burks
Mamadi Diakite
Miles McBride
DaQuan Jeffries
Shake Milton
Mitchell Robinson
Jericho Sims

2 Way Players
Jacob Toppin
Duane Washington, Jr
Charlie Brown, Jr

Injuries/Out
Charlie Brown, Jr (concussion) questionable
Duane Washington, Jr (knee) questionable
Julius Randle (shoulder) out

Head Coach
Tom Thibodeau

Game Notes
The Celtics host the New York Knicks for the 5th and final meeting between these two teams this season.   The Celtics won the first 4 meetings between them,  winning 2 in Boston and 2 in New York.  The Celtics won 108-104 on 10/25, 114-98 on 11/13, 133-123 on 12/8 and 116-102 on 2/24.  The Knicks won the series last season 3-1,  winning one game in New York and losing both games in Boston. 

The Celtics are 304-189 overall all time against the New York Knicks.   They are 164-68 in games played in Boston.   This is the first game of back to back games for both teams.  The Knicks will return to New York to take on the Nets on Friday.  The Knicks are 10-2 in the first of back to back games.  The Celtics will host the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.  The Celtics are 12-1 in the first of back to back games and they are 6-0 when the first game is at home. 

The Celtics remain in first place in the East and first place overall in the league. They are 13.5 games ahead of 2nd place Milwaukee, 15 games ahead of 3rd place New York, 15.5 games ahead of 4th place Cleveland, 16.5 games ahead of 5th place Orlando, and 16.5 games ahead of 6th place Indiana.  They are 35-3 at home and 7-3 in their last 10 games.  They are 39-10 against Eastern Conference teams and 15-1 against Atlantic Division teams. Theyare coming off a loss in their last game.

The Knicks are 3rd in the East, 15 games behind 1st place Boston, 1.5 games behind 2nd place Milwaukee,, half a game ahead of 4th place Cleveland, 1.5 games ahead of 5th place Orlando and 1.5 games ahead of 6th place Indiana.  They are 22-18 on the road and 6-4 in their last 10 games.  They are 32-17 against Eastern Conference teams and 10-5 against the Atlantic Division.  They have won their last 2 games.

The Celtics have 2 games remaining in the regular season after this one.  They host the Charlotte Hornets on Friday and they host the Washington Wizards on Sunday.   The Knicks also have 2 games remaining after this game.  They host the Brooklyn Nets on Friday and will host the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. 

The Celtics have 6 players on the injury report as of Wednesday night.  The only starter who is not there is Derrick White. All are listed as questionable and their final status will be a game time decision.  Jrue Holiday is listed with left patella tendinopathy. Jaylen Brown has a left hand sprain.  Jayson Tatum has a right knee contusion.  Kristaps Porzingis is questionable due to hamstring injury management.  Al Horford has a a left big toe sprain.  And finally, Xavier Tillman is questionable due to right knee tendon irritation.  With the Maine Celtics playing for the championship, both Jordan Walsh and Neemias Queta will likely be on assignment with them. 

For the Knicks, Julius Randle underwent surgery on his right shoulder and will miss the remainder of the season.  The only other players listed on the injury report are their two way players, Charlie Brown, Jr (concussion) and Duane Washington, Jr (knee).  Both are questionable and will be a game time decision.  I'm thinking that at least one or two of the Celtics questionable players will be available,   but I'm not sure who.  I've not included any of them in the starting lineup here.  I have no idea who will or won't be playing.

Key Matchups
vs
Who Knows? vs Jalen Brunson
Brunson is averaging 28.4 points, 3.6 rebound,  and 6.7 assists per game.   He is shooting 47.8% from the field and 39.9% from beyond the arc.   In 4 games against the Celtics this season he averaged 24.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.5 steals.  He shoots a high percentage from 3 and so the Celtics have to defend him well on the perimeter as well as defend him going to the basket.  I don't know which Celtics will sit out and which will play so I'm just putting question marks for the Celtics matchup.

  vs 
Derrick White vs Donte DiVincenzo
DiVincenzo is averaging 15.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.  He is shooting 44.2% from the field and 40.4% from beyond the arc.  In 4 games against the Celtics this season, he averaged 5.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, while shooting 28.6% from the field and 35% from beyond the arc.  Derrick White is the only Celtics starter who is not on the injury list at this time. 

Honorable Mention
Who Knows vs OG Anunoby
Anunoby has returned to the starting lineup for the Knicks after a right elbow injury that required surgery.  He is averaging 14.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.  He is shooting 49.1% from the field and 37.3% from beyond the arc.  In 2 games against the Celtics this season, he averaged 10 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 38.1% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc.  Once again,  I don't know which Celtics will play and which will be out so I'm not even guessing on the matchup.

Keys to the Game
Defense -  Defense is the key to winning every game.  The Knicks average 112.7 points per game (20th) while the Celtics average 120.4 points per game (2nd).  The Celtics have a defensive rating of 110.5 (2nd) while the Knicks have a defensive rating of 112.3 (9th).  Both teams want to be defensive minded but both teams forget their defensive identity from time to time.  The Celtics allowed the Bucks to shoot 53.1% from the field and 47.2% from beyond the arc on Tuesday.  They have got to play tougher team defense in this game if they hope to get a win.

Rebound - The Celtics can't score if they don't have the ball, and the best way to get the ball is the grab rebounds.   The Celtics need to rebound as a team with every Celtic battling on the boards.  It will take a team effort to beat the Knicks, who are 5th in the league in rebounding with 45.2 rebounds per game.  The Celtics are 2nd with 46.4 rebounds per game but tend to get lazy against physical teams that fight for rebounds. They were out-rebounded 49-38 by the Bucks.   The Knicks are 2nd in the league with 16.1 second chance points per game and so the Celtics need to crash the boards to prevent giving the Knicks extra points in this game. 

Be Aggressive - The Celtics need to be the more aggressive team. They have to be more aggressive in going after loose balls, in grabbing rebounds, in defending, and in going to the basket.  They need to hustle and be aggressive for 48 minutes every game but especially against the Knicks because Thibs has them playing hard every game.  They can win a lot of games by playing harder than their opponents and they can lose a lot of games by allowing their opponents to be the team that plays harder. 

Next Man Up - It's a given that some of the starters will be out this game and so the stay ready group needs to be ready to step up once again in their place.  Some of them will need to start and others will need to come in and play extra minutes because of the Celtics being short handed.  They all need to play hard and to stay focused on both ends of the court.

X-Factors
Short Handed at Home - The Celtics need to continue to take advantage of home court while the Knicks will face a hostile crowd and an unfamiliar arena along with travel which will hopefully give the Celtics the edge.  It's unclear who will play and who will sit in this game and so the game may be a lot tougher depending on who is available to play. 

Officiating - Officiating always has the potential to be an x-factor.   Each officiating crew calls the game differently.  Some refs call it tight and constantly call fouls while others let them play with few fouls called.  On Tuesday, the Celtics became the first team in NBA history to go an entire game without taking a foul shot.  The Celtics need to adjust to how the refs are calling the game and not allow bad calls or no calls to take away their focus.  The Celtics can't afford to allow the other team to go on playing while Celtics players are hanging back and complaining about calls.   

 

[SparzWizard]

LETS GO C'S!!

[FLCeltsFan]

TP to  SparzWizard    for being the first to post in the game thread!!!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Celtics!!!!

Beat the Knicks!!!!! 

[Birdman]

Good rest the players! No need to get hurt in a meaningless game

[jbpats]

So do we think Brown/Tatum/Unicorn/Horford are done until the playoffs?

I have to think they are.

[jpotter33]

So do we think Brown/Tatum/Unicorn/Horford are done until the playoffs?

I have to think they are.

Absolutely no way they are. Have to play some to keep up with conditioning and rhythm, as we won’t play our first game until next Sunday at earliest, which would put 11 days of no games between Milwaukee’s game and the playoffs.

I hope we play everyone tonight in our last playoff-level matchup, and then rest half the main guys on Friday and the other half on Sunday. That still gets guys rest, while also giving us one last good game with our main guys to work on anything and keep up rhythm and conditioning. We’d also benefit by giving NYK a loss, which would (I think) take them out of the running to knock Milwaukee out from 2, making it that much more likely that Milwaukee faces one of Indy, Philly, or Miami in the first round.

[Vermont Green]

John Karalis: Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, and Jayson Tatum are all AVAILABLE tonight. Holiday, Porzingis, Tillman, Brissett all remain QUESTIONABLE – via Twitter John_Karalis

[Phantom255x]

John Karalis: Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, and Jayson Tatum are all AVAILABLE tonight. Holiday, Porzingis, Tillman, Brissett all remain QUESTIONABLE – via Twitter John_Karalis

[Vermont Green]

John Karalis: Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, and Jayson Tatum are all AVAILABLE tonight. Holiday, Porzingis, Tillman, Brissett all remain QUESTIONABLE – via Twitter John_Karalis

I think they are reserving the majority of the bubble-wrap for Porzingis.  Having at least Horford will give us a chance to win, unlike vs. MIL the other night when we had neither.  I am not sure why Holiday, Tillman, or Brissett would need to rest.  I guess Holiday is coming back from a shoulder issue and he did just sign a contract, maybe his shoulder is tired from that?

[bdm860]

Key Matchups
vs
Who Knows? vs Jalen Brunson
Brunson is averaging 28.4 points, 3.6 rebound,  and 6.7 assists per game.   He is shooting 47.8% from the field and 39.9% from beyond the arc.   In 4 games against the Celtics this season he averaged 24.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.5 steals.  He shoots a high percentage from 3 and so the Celtics have to defend him well on the perimeter as well as defend him going to the basket.  I don't know which Celtics will sit out and which will play so I'm just putting question marks for the Celtics matchup.

Have to admit, I don't always read the game threads, so maybe this is a regular occurrence, but the "who knows?" with the question mark pic is hilarious.

[bello_man09]

Honestly, I don't  care its just all about effort ,the look on our main guys faces are can we start the playoffs already. I remember 2022 rob getting hurt before the playoffs started.  better effort win or lose- we need everyone healthy.

[jpotter33]

Everyone but Oshae available tonight. Good decision by Joe. Give us one last game to work on stuff with the full group against a quality opponent. We can rest hang the guys on Friday and the other half on Sunday.

[Phantom255x]

I actually wouldn't be surprised if this is one of those where we play our starters most of the first half and then just sit them all the 2nd half.

Another thing to consider though, a Knicks win almost guarantees they finish with the 3 seed, while a loss likely puts them at 4 or even 5. At 3, they would be on the other side of the bracket, but at 4-5, they could very well be our 2nd round foe. Something to watch out for. 

[liam]

Game time!

[celticinorlando]

Tonight needs to be the last game for the top 6 until the playoffs