Basketball: Hart Leads Knicks To Game 2 Victory, 2-0 Series Lead vs. Celtics

Led by Josh Hart’s 23 points, the New York Knicks stun defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, coming from 20 down to steal a 2-0 playoff series advantage.

Jalen Brunson made two free throws with 12.7 seconds to play, lifting the New York Knicks to a 91-90 win over the host Boston Celtics and a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Boston had a chance to recover in the final seconds on Wednesday, but Mikal Bridges knocked the ball away from Jayson Tatum and New York took possession.

Josh Hart had a game-high 23 points for New York, which trailed by 20 points in the third quarter and by 16 in the fourth. The Knicks received 21 points and 17 rebounds from Karl-Anthony Towns. Bridges put up 14 points – all in the fourth quarter.

Brunson, finished with 17 points and a game-high seven assists, said of the decisive foul shots, “I got up there, heard the noise and then I just tried to block everything out. And then I made two.”

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said, “We started slowly, got in a big hole, dug out way out and then guys made a lot of tough plays. (Our players) were at their best when their best was needed down the stretch.”

Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each scored 20 points for the Celtics.

“They made the necessary plays to win,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said of the Knicks. “We put ourselves in position to do that and we just didn’t make the plays (down the stretch).

“You just take a look at it and figure out where you have to be better and put a full 48 minutes together. Have an understanding that it’s going to be difficult, but that’s why we do what we do. Figure out where we have to get better and do that. We got to get on the road and we got to find a way to win.”

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be played on Saturday in New York.

New York took its first lead on a Brunson layup that made it 87-86 with 1:59 to play. Another Brunson layup capped a 21-2 run that stretched New York’s lead to three points before two Tatum free throws pulled the Celtics within one point with 44.9 seconds left.

Aljazeera.com