The Boston Celtics (43–24) had no problem handling the New York Knicks (24–44) on Wednesday night, with a 109–97 win that was only fitting for the team in green at the TD Garden on St. Patrick’s Day.
Paul Pierce led the team with 29 points and Kevin Garnett came in with 22 points while the rest of the starters were held to single-digit scoring.
A near consistent and sizeable lead allowed the Celtics to play their bench heavily with four bench players seeing over 20 minutes of playing time. The entire team scored except for Glen Davis who grabbed six rebounds and Tony Allen who chipped in with two rebounds.
Knicks All-Star power-forward David Lee had a great game with 29 points to match Pierce, and Al Harrington contributed 16 points from the bench.
But the Knicks were flat in shooting, going 16–40 in field goals in the first half and 36–87 for the night. They were also out-rebounded by the Celtics and failed to put on aggressive defensive pressure.
The Celtics wasted no time taking it to the Knicks, hitting their first several shots and closing the first quarter with a 32–19 lead.
The Knicks cut that lead down to eight points at one point in the second quarter, but steady scoring by Pierce and Garnett brought it back up by 19 points going into the locker room with a score of 68–49. This one could have been called at halftime.
Lee and Tracy McGrady fought hard for the Knicks throughout the third quarter, with several good looks and hustle plays by Lee. But the team fell back by 21 points at the end of the quarter that was plagued with turnovers.
Little Hope
The Knicks’ faint playoff hopes took another blow. With only 14 games to go in the season, they are 10 games behind the Eastern Conference’s eighth place team the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors beat the Atlanta Hawks 106–105 on Wednesday night.
The 10th placed Knicks have the same record as the Philadelphia 76ers, who beat the New Jersey Nets 108–97.
The Celtics have now tied the record of the conference’s third place team the Atlanta Hawks. Top team Cleveland has already secured their playoff spot and Orlando is not far behind.
