HOME IS WHERE THE HURT IS
BOSTON—Mikal Bridges scored all of his 14 points in the fourth quarter before making his second straight game-clinching steal, and the New York Knicks overcame a 20-point deficit again to beat the Boston Celtics 91-90 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The loss added to the misery of home teams in the second round of the NBA playoffs, where all home teams lost their opening games. East top seed Cleveland and Boston have now lost two.
That run of poor home form was snapped by West No. 1 Oklahoma City, which brutally avenged its Game 1 defeat with a 149-106 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Wednesday’s other game.
“What’s done is done,” said the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown during a postgame media availability. “Now we have an opportunity to see what we’re made of and come out and try to make something happen in Game 3.”
Jalen Brunson scored 17 points for New York and made two free throws with 12.7 seconds left for a 91-90 lead. Jayson Tatum then couldn’t get to the rim, and Bridges moved in to bat the ball away and recover it.
“I could come up here and pout and be sad, and I’m sure there would be a big story about how we’re defeated and I don’t believe in us,” Tatum said in a report by The Athletic. “Or I could come in like, you can’t change what happened. It stings for sure, but it’s 3-2 and it’s the first to four. There’s no sense in being sad or putting your head down, because that’s not going to do anything for next game. Always be optimistic and believe in yourself, believe in your group that we can win the game on Friday.”
Josh Hart had 23 points and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks.
“We got the Clutch Player of the Year in the NBA, and we got possibly one of the most clutchest defenders in the NBA as well,” Towns said.
New York will host Game 3 on Saturday.
“I take solace in the fact that we have a challenge ahead of us, and we have a chance to go after it together,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Brown and Derrick White scored 20 points apiece for the Celtics, who were 10 for 40 from three-point range after going 15 for 60 in Game 1.
Playoff record
“It’s inexcusable,” said Brown. “But we’re going to learn from it. We’re going to respond.
“We’ve got a great group that has stayed together through it all,” Brown added. “So these are the moments where we need to show our resiliency, we need to show our mental toughness because we can get back in this thing, no question.”
The Thunder set an NBA playoff record for first-half points with 87 against the Nuggets, surpassing the previous record of 86 set by the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on June 9, 2017.
Chet Holmgren, who missed two critical free throws late in Game 1, made a pair with a second remaining to set the record.
The Thunder tied the record for points in any half of a playoff game. Milwaukee had 87 in the second half against Denver on April 23, 1978.
The Thunder shot 58.8 percent from the field and made 17 of 18 free throws to take an 87-56 lead at the break. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 18 points. All five Thunder starters scored in double figures in the first half.
Denver won Game 1 121-119 on Monday night.
