Behind a huge OT from Jason Terry, some Truth heroics and Brandon Bass’ tough defense on ‘Melo, Celts avoid the sweep today. After watching a double-digit lead vanish (what is else is new), the C’s fought through some awful officiating, terrible offense of their own and beat the Knicks 97-90 in OT. Without JR Smith, the Knicks struggled to find much of an offense, until quarter #3 when Ray Felton got hot. Felton outscored the C’s all by himself in the 3rd, 16-14. It was yet another 12 minutes of stinky bball from Boston that fans have seen over much of this season. Felton’s trey at the end of the 3rd closed the gap and NY was down 68-65. Knicks went on a 7-2 run over the last 4 mins. of regulation, and we were headed to OT. That’s where Jet notched 9 points on 3 of 3 shooting and nailed 2 big free-throws to ice it. Boston now travels back to the Rotten Apple for game 5 on Wednesday night. Despite how atrocious some of the play has been this series, I’m proud of this year’s squad for finding the pride to force a trip back to NYC. If this is indeed “it” for guys like KG and Pierce, a win for the Knicks in our building to complete a sweep would’ve been a dreadful way to go out. But alas…they live to fight another day. Hell yes.
The Green:
- Jeff Green continues to show why many think he is a key to the Celtics future. An aggressive Green scored 26 points and was 7 of 8 from the FT line.
- Paul Pierce’s dunk and big three-pointers down the stretch were key in keeping the Garden rocking and in getting this win. Not too pleased about his 6 turnovers, but we all know that without Truth’s 29 points, NY completes the sweep today.
- A banged-up KG grabbed 17 boards and was an efficient 5 of 7 for 13 pts.
- Jason Terry sealed the deal in OT with 9 points, a clutch trey and 2 big FT’s. Jet finished with 18 points
- Brandon Bass’ numbers may not look pretty, but his tenacious D on ‘Melo helped keep Anthony out of a rhythm. Melo notched 36 points, but on a crazy 10 of 35 from the field. 16 of those 36 points came at the FT line.
The Gross:
- Celtics could only muster 14 points in the 3rd quarter
- Knicks won the battle of second-chance points 13-2
- Avery Bradley looked to be still recovering from a stomach bug as he was 1 of 7 w/3 points in 39 mins. He did however have 4 steals.
The Greenlights:
Pierce Dunk
KG Alley-Oop
Pierce Trey
http://youtu.be/D3GXNuLWRj4
Jet Big Shots
http://youtu.be/VwMmpOwGDsE
The Grid: (quick stats)
- Points in the paint: Celtics 30 Knicks 28
- Free-throw attempts: Celtics 24 Carmelo Anthony 20
- This is only the 2nd time Boston has had to force a Game 5 after being down 3-0 in a playoff series
Boxscore|Bonus video: Our friend Dart Adams w/postgame vid on Celts, Knicks fans attendance
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