New York Knicks rally late to beat Boston Celtics 106-104: NBA Recap Part 1
The New York Knicks used a late surge to get one over the Boston Celtics at the Madison Square Garden on Sunday, 25th December. The two sides, who met in the first round of the playoffs last season, faced off on Christmas
Day as the NBA season finally took off.
And they did not disappoint in a thrilling spectacle, won by the Knicks 106 – 104.
The momentum shifted back and forth throughout the game and the Celtics looked set to romp home just before the Knicks, fuelled by the brilliant Carmelo Anthony, made their comeback. The former Denver Nuggets super star proved
his worth with a 37 point display that also included 8 boards.
His efforts were largely behind New York’s rally but they also had solid contributions from Amar’e Stoudemire, 21 points, and Toney Douglas, 19.
Anthony thought didn’t want too much of the spotlight himself and said after the game that the win was important because it showed New York’s strength as a team. He was happy with how his colleagues had reacted to adversity and
believed this could be the start of an important season for the Knicks.
"Most importantly for us, as a new team, we showed something," Anthony said. "We came together as a team. Even when we got down, there wasn't no frowns. Nobody was down. Mentally everybody was still up about it, and we willed our
way to this win."
The Boston Celtics have been viciously weakened over the summer but they put in an overwhelming display at the MSG. Veteran star Kevin Garnett though accepted that in the end they came up short and attributed New York’s win to
the stellar display by Carmelo.
"They seem to have a little swag and confidence behind them," Garnett said. "It's good for the city. It's good for the Knicks. I'm going to see how consistent they are with that, but for the most part Carmelo played really well."
New York came out of the blocks quickly and raced to an 8 point lead with 6:54 on the clock. The Celtics terribly short-handed with injuries to Jeff Green and Paul Pierce couldn’t manage a fitting fight back in the quarter. By
the time the first ended, the Knicks had extended their lead to 11 points at 34 – 23.
It was more of the same in the second quarter as New York extended their lead to 16 points with around 8 minutes still to go till the interval. The Celtics then showed some life, making a concerted effort to control the damage
and brought the scores closer as the quarter progressed. By the end of the first half, they had made some gains, but New York still led 62 – 52.
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