Kristaps Porzingis scored 34 points and tied a career high with eight 3-pointers, including one in the third quarter with a foot on the New York Knicks’ logo, as the visiting Boston Celtics won 119-117 in overtime Tuesday night.
With their ninth straight win on the road, the Celtics secured their first four-game regular-season sweep of the Knicks since the 2019-20 season.
By virtue of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday, Boston (59-20) is locked in as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. New York (50-29) needs one more win or a loss by the Indiana Pacers to lock up the No. 3 seed.
Porzingis, the former Knick, had the biggest shot of the night, making a 3-pointer with 40.8 seconds left in overtime to break a 112-112 tie. The Knicks turned the ball over on their next possession and Jrue Holiday made four free throws in the final 12.6 seconds to clinch it for Boston.
Jayson Tatum scored 32 points for the Celtics. Jaylen Brown played just 22 minutes while dealing with a sore right knee and scored six points. Jrue Holliday scored 16 points and Derrick White chipped in 14.
For the Knicks, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 34 points, Jalen Brunson added 27 and Josh Hart finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out.
New York led by three with under a minute left in regulation after a basket by Mikal Bridges (14 points), but Towns fouled Tatum on a 3-point shot. Tatum made the first two free throws but missed the third.
Hart scored on a layup to make it 107-104 with 11 seconds left, but Tatum answered with a 3 with 2.9 seconds to play. The Celtics shot 19 of 49 from 3-point range overall.
Hart missed a long 3 at the fourth-quarter buzzer that could have won it for the Knicks.
New York controlled the first half behind Towns, who had 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting at the break.
Towns scored 10 straight points for the Knicks as they built a 14-7 lead.
Boston pulled to within three on a long 3-pointer by Sam Hauser and a traditional three-point play by Tatum. After the first quarter, New York led 30-27.
The second quarter followed a similar script. Towns made a nifty hook shot in the lane and then banked in a jumper from the elbow with eight minutes left to put New York ahead 42-33, its biggest lead to that point.
The Knicks’ lead hit 11 at 52-41 after Anunoby hit two free throws with 3:58 left, but Boston surged back. Porzingis drilled a 3, sank a free throw and scored from inside to key an 11-2 run.
New York led 58-52 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
