Injuries to OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson helped ensure the New York Knicks would never get a chance to find out how they could have fared against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals last spring.
Nine months later, the Knicks might get a chance to make a statement against the Celtics, even without Anunoby and Robinson.
The Knicks will try to inch closer to the Celtics in the race for the second seed in the Eastern Conference Saturday night, when New York hosts Boston in the second clash of the season between the longtime rivals.
The Knicks have been off since Tuesday night, when they held off a furious rally by the host Toronto Raptors in a 121-115 win. The Celtics’ four-game winning streak ended when they fell to the visiting Dallas Mavericks 127-120 on Thursday.
That Boston loss allowed New York to pull within 1 1/2 games of the Celtics for second place in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks earned the second seed in the East last season but were depleted by injuries in their second-round series against the Indiana Pacers, who earned a seven-game series win before falling to the Celtics in the conference finals.
Robinson missed the final six games of the series with a left ankle injury that required surgery, while Anunoby was sidelined for Games 3 through 6 and played just four-plus minutes in Game 7 due to a left hamstring injury.
The Knicks won’t be at full strength Saturday, but they’ve won both games without Anunoby since he suffered a sprained right ankle in a 128-112 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 1. Robinson still has no timetable for his return from left ankle surgery, though the center was cleared for contact this week.
Fortunately for the Knicks, they’ll have star point guard Jalen Brunson Saturday night. Brunson scored five of his 28 points in the final 52 seconds Tuesday to help hold off the Raptors, who cut a 23-point deficit to one in the fourth.
A night earlier, Brunson scored 11 of the Knicks’ final 13 points as they completed a comeback from an 11-point deficit to edge the Houston Rockets 124-118.
“That’s what he does, man,” Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said. “Get to watch his show on the court. That’s the best seat in the house. When you get to see ‘Cap’ do what he does, it’s a special thing.”
Boston opened this season with 16 wins in its first 19 games but is just 20-13 since then, a span in which it has won more than two straight games only three times.
The Mavericks led by as many as 27 points in the fourth quarter Thursday at Boston. The loss continued some atypical home woes for the Celtics, who are 5-7 at TD Garden since Dec. 19. Boston went 37-4 at home in the regular season last year before going 8-2 in the playoffs.
“There’s no compass as to what (the season) is supposed to look like,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “So at the end of the day, the regular season gives us a ton of information on the things we need to build towards.”
The loss to Dallas also marked the fourth straight time the Celtics have lost their first home game following a multi-game road trip. Overall this season, Boston is 2-5 in its first home game following a trek of two or more games.
“We’ve been struggling this year coming off long road trips, coming back home,” said Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, who tallied 21 points, six rebounds and six assists. “That’s something we’ve got to fix. I don’t know if it’s just the effort side of things or something.”
Jaylen Brown had 25 points to lead the Celtics.
–Field Level Media
