Celtics (54-25) at Knicks (51-28) Game #80 4/9/26

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
Boston Celtics (54-25) at New York Knicks (51-28)
Thursday, April 9, 2026
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #80 Road Game #41
TV: Prime Video
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub,  880 ESPN, Sirius XM
Madison Square Garden


Probable Celtics Starters
PG SG SFPF C
PG:  Derrick White
SG:  Jaylen Brown
SF:  Sam Hauser
PF:  Jayson Tatum
C:   Neemias Queta 

Celtics Reserves
Payton Pritchard
Hugo Gonzalez
Luka Garza
Amare Williams
Jordan Walsh
Baylor Scheierman
Max Shulga
Nikola Vucevic
Ron Harper, Jr

2-Way Players
None

Injuries/Out
Derrick White (knee) questionable
Neemias Queta (toe)  questionable
Sam Hauser (back) questionable
Jaylen Brown (Achilles) questionable

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla

Probable Knicks Starters
PG SG SF PF C
PG:  Jalen Brunson
SG:  Mikal Bridges
SF:  Josh Hart
PF:  OG Anunoby
C:   Karl-Anthony Towns

Knicks Reserves
Jordan Clarkson
Pacome Dadiet
Jose Alvarado
Mohamed Diawara
Tyler Kolek
Mitchell Robinson
Landry Shamet
Ariel Hukporti

Two-Way Players
Kevin McCullar, Jr
Dillon Jones
Trey Jemison III

Injuries/Out
Tyler Kolek (oblique) questionable

Head Coach
Mike Brown

Game Notes
The Celtics head to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks in their final road game of the season.  This is the 4th, and final, game between these two teams this season.  The Knicks won the first game 105-95 in New York on October 24. The Celtics won the 2nd game 123-117 in Boston on December 2.  The Knicks won the 3rd game 111-89 in Boston on February 8. 

The Celtics are 309-192 overall, all time against the Knicks and they are 130-110 in games played in New York.   Both teams are playing in the first of back to back games.  The Knicks have been off since Monday and are 7-5 in the first of back to back games.  The Celtics last played on Tuesday and they are 9-3 in the first of back to back games.   

Along with the importance of this game for seeding purposes, this game has another very important storyline.  This will be Jayson Tatum?s first game back to Madison Square Garden since he tore his Achilles in last year?s playoffs.   This is one of the mental hurdles that Tatum must get over in order to be all the way back from the injury.   He said he?s not thrilled with having to go back there and play but knows that it?s all a part of getting back to where he was before the injury. 

The Celtics are 2nd in the East, 3.5 games behind 1st place Detroit. They are 3 games ahead of 3rd place New York, 3.5 games ahead of 4th place Cleveland, 9.5 games ahead of 5th place Atlanta, 10 games ahead of 6th place Toronto and 10.5 games ahead of 7th place Orlando and 11 games ahead of 8th place Philadelphia. The Celtics are 35-15 against Eastern Conference opponents. They are 26-14 on the road and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They have won their last 4 games.

The Knicks are 3rd in the East, 6.5 games behind 1st place Detroit and 3 games behind 2nd place Boston. They are half a game ahead of 4th place Cleveland, 6.5 games ahead of 5th place Atlanta, 7 games ahead of 6th place Toronto and 7.5 games ahead of 7th place Orlando and 8 games ahead of 8th place Philadelphia. They are 33-16 against Eastern Conference opponents. They are 28-9 on the road and 7-3 in their last 10 games. They have won their last 3 games.

This game is very important for seeding purposes. The Celtics need just one win or one Knicks loss to clinch the 2nd seed. They can do that with a win in this game or they have 2 more games left and would need to win one of those. The Celtics will host New Orleans on Friday and will finish the season by hosting Orlando. After this game, the Knicks have 2 games left as well. They will host Toronto and Charlotte to end the season. For New York to clinch the 2nd seed, the Celtics would need to lose all 3 games and New York would need to win all 3 games.  Also, the Knicks are just half a game ahead of Cleveland and they need to keep winning to hang onto the 3rd seed.
The Celtics have 4 starters listed as questionable on the injury report.  Some or all may sit this game out and then play on Friday.  Derrick White (knee), Neemias Queta (toe), Sam Hauser (back) and Jaylen Brown (Achilles) are all listed as questionable and will be a game time decision.  I've included the normal starting 5 since I'm not sure who will play and who won't.  For the Knicks, only Tyler Kolek (oblique) is questionable. 

Key Matchups
vs
Derrick White vs Jalen Brunson
Brunson is the key to the Knicks offense and the Celtics need to defend him well.  He is averaging 26 points, 3.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists, while shooting 46.4% from the field and 37.0% from beyond the arc.  Against the Celtics this season, he averaged 25.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 8 assists while shooting 45.2% from the field and 34.8% from beyond the arc.  The Celtics must defend him closely, especially on the perimeter.  If White doesn't play, I would expect Payton Pritchard to start in his place.

vs
Neemias Queta vs Karl Anthony-Towns
Towns is averaging 20.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 49.9% from the field and 37.0% from beyond the arc.  In the first 3 games against the Celtics, he averaged 22.0 points, 10 rebounds,  and 2 assists while shooting 47.7% from the field and 46.2% from beyond the arc.  The Celtics need to box him out on the boards and defend him in the paint and on the perimeter. If Queta doesn't play, I am guessing that Luka Garza will start in his place with Vucevic coming off the bench. 

Honorable Mention
Sam Hauser vs OG Anunoby
Anunoby is averaging 24 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.6 steals while shooting 48.6% from the field and 38.8% from 3.  He played in just one of the 3 games against the Celtics this season and finished with 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals while shooting 30% from the field and 28.6% from beyond the arc.   If Hauser doesn't play, I would guess that Baylor Scheierman starts in his place. 

Keys to the Game
Defense - As always, defense is the key to winning this, and every, game.  The Celtics are 4th with a defensive rating of 111.7.  The Knicks  are 8th with a defensive rating of 112.3.   The Celtics have shown that they are capable of playing very good defense but at times still slack off and allow opponents to score too easily.  If Brown, White and Queta are out, they will be without 3 key defenders.   The Celtics must make defense a priority if they hope to win this game. 

Rebound -  As with defense,  rebounding will always be a key to winning. The Celtics have to crash the boards as a team and go after every rebound.   The Celtics are 4th with 46.5 rebounds per game while the Knicks are 7th with 46.0 rebounds per game.  In the 2 losses to the Knicks this season, the Celtics were out-rebounded but in the win over the Knicks, they out-rebounded the Knicks.  The Knicks are 6th with 16.6 second chance points per game.  The Celtics must give extra effort to beat the Knicks to rebounds in this game. 

Move the Ball Carefully- The Celtics are tough to beat when they keep the ball moving and find the open man but when one player over dribbles and lapses into hero ball, they falter. The Celtics are 33-0 when they have more assists than their opponent but just 19-23 when they have fewer assists than their opponent. Keep the ball moving and don't lapse into hero ball, whether in the first quarter or the 4th quarter. They have to make careful passes and not turn the ball over because the Knicks average 17.8 points off turnovers per game. 

Effort and Focus for 48 Minutes- The Celtics have to play with extra effort overall for all 4 quarters. In most of their losses and even in some of their wins, they have allowed their opponents to play with more energy than them for periods of time during the game. They play well for stretches but let up and allow their opponents to surge ahead. The Knicks play hard and the Celtics must match that effort and they need to stay focused on playing the right way from the opening tip until the final buzzer. 


X-Factors
On the Road - The Celtics are on the road for the first time this season.   They need to overcome the distractions of travel, playing on an unfamiliar court,  and in front of a hostile crowd and stay focused on playing hard and as a team.  They have to come out playing hard right from the beginning and try to keep the Knicks' crowd from getting into the game.

Who's Playing? - It's possible that the Celtics will be without up to 4 starters.  Since the Celtics need just one win in their 3 remaining games to clinch the 2nd seed, they may rest some players in this one and then go all out in the final 2 games to get that win.  If any or all of the 4 questionable players are out, the other players have to step up big time for the Celtics to get a win. 

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. Some refs just make calls that just don't make sense.  The Celtics will be on the road and so they can expect the Knicks to get a favorable whistle in their arena.  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. 

[slamtheking]

TP for another great game thread FL.  let's crush the Knicks dreams of the 2nd seed!

[FLCeltsFan]

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

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Celtics!!!!

Beat the Knicks!!!!!!!!!

[hodgy03038]

Let's go Celts! Lock it against the Knicks. That will be sweet.

[radiohead]

This could be the JT/Vuc game with all the questionable players listed.

[Vermont Green]

I would have expected them to try to beat NYK and rest vs NOP.  Almost like they are conceding this game.   

[hardlyyardley]

No local tv?

[Roy H.]

I would have expected them to try to beat NYK and rest vs NOP.  Almost like they are conceding this game.

I don't mind it, other than that it is bulletin board material for the Knicks in the playoffs (as if they needed additional motivation).  We're basically guaranteeing a second round matchup with NY.

[SHAQATTACK]

This could possibly be a really interesting game ,  if a blow out or total collapse is avoided by both teams. Neither team is the type to quit.

 

[Vermont Green]

I would have expected them to try to beat NYK and rest vs NOP.  Almost like they are conceding this game.

I don't mind it, other than that it is bulletin board material for the Knicks in the playoffs (as if they needed additional motivation).  We're basically guaranteeing a second round matchup with NY.

Right, if we beat them, it favors CLE getting to the 3 seed.  If we lose, we likely avoid CLE and get NYK.  I doubt this is part of their thinking, at least I hope not.  But whatever the logic may be, it is not clear to me.

I will say that I do expect CLE to be a tougher out then NYK, but not by much.  Not enough difference to try and game this.

[RMO]

Only thing that would bother me about a loss while keeping those guys out is having to hear the announcers discuss the Knicks going 3-1 against the Celtics this year without any context whatsoever (assuming it's Knicks/Celtics in round 2).

First loss was the second game of the season.  Second loss was the third game in five nights (fifth game over eight days) and then potentially a loss tonight while missing all those guys.

Of course that's certainly better then losing at full strength in which I'm sure they would provide context there ('just beat them a few weeks ago while they were at full strength')

[A Future of Stevens]

Only thing that would bother me about a loss while keeping those guys out is having to hear the announcers discuss the Knicks going 3-1 against the Celtics this year without any context whatsoever (assuming it's Knicks/Celtics in round 2).

First loss was the second game of the season.  Second loss was the third game in five nights (fifth game over eight days) and then potentially a loss tonight while missing all those guys.

Of course that's certainly better then losing at full strength in which I'm sure they would provide context there ('just beat them a few weeks ago while they were at full strength')

If it makes you feel any better we went 4-0 against the Knicks in the regular season and were still going to lose to them before the injury.

Anyway go Celtics!

[Redz]

I would have expected them to try to beat NYK and rest vs NOP.  Almost like they are conceding this game.

I don't mind it, other than that it is bulletin board material for the Knicks in the playoffs (as if they needed additional motivation).  We're basically guaranteeing a second round matchup with NY.

Right, if we beat them, it favors CLE getting to the 3 seed.  If we lose, we likely avoid CLE and get NYK.  I doubt this is part of their thinking, at least I hope not.  But whatever the logic may be, it is not clear to me.

I will say that I do expect CLE to be a tougher out then NYK, but not by much.  Not enough difference to try and game this.

I really don't care what round it's in, but a Celtics/Knicks rematch is a must.  They need to make good for that debacle last year.  It would be great theater.

[Phantom255x]

The Knicks would still need to lose another game since they have the tiebreaker over CLE and are 1 ahead of them currently, so I'm sure that might be in the calculation too. My guess is, they let Tatum get over some of the PTSD from MSG tonight, but rest most of the team and then if they lose, obviously most of the other guys will be back tomorrow and should take care of business against the Pelicans to secure the 2 seed.

I do think there's a real chance tonight is the last regular season game Tatum plays. I doubt he's playing a B2B and I also don't think they'd risk any injury or funny business Sunday UNLESS the 2 seed is still in play for NY/BOS.

It would get dicey if you play everyone, lose tonight, and then rest everyone (or are forced to play guys again) and get into a battle with the Pelicans while risking health too. That scenario makes it tricky and could force you into playing guys and trying to win Sunday which I don't think this team wants.

[keevsnick]

I think resting guys tonight makes some sense. They will probably rest almost everyone in game 82, so since there's only 3 games left it probably makes more sense to give guys the night off tonight, get them one more easy run vs NOP then rest in game 82.