BOSTON — With 3 seconds left in overtime and the Knicks leading by three, the Celtics inbounded from the sideline across from the benches. Derrick White launched the ball to Jaylen Brown.
He never got a shot off. Mikal Bridges grabbed at the ball as soon as Brown caught it. He seized it just long enough for the clock to run out, giving the Knicks a 108-105 win, momentum and a whole lot of belief after Game 1 on Monday at TD Garden.
That was a perfect encapsulation of the night as the Celtics let a win get ripped out of their hands.
It was fitting that Bridges made the last play. The Knicks guard had a night worth the five first-round picks they traded to get him. He only had 8 points in the game, but he hit a big 3 in overtime to put the Celtics in a six-point hole. He played 51 minutes of 53 minutes and was outstanding defensively.
The result, while unexpected, was not a fluke. The Knicks did not get lucky or find bottled lightning for a night. The Celtics got what they deserved.
Boston had a 20-point lead in the third. They led by nine in the fourth quarter and couldn’t put it away.
The Celtics didn’t shoot well, but they lost the game despite a lot of things going their way:
- The Knicks missed free throws. They shot 17-for-31 from the free throw line, well below their 80 percent average during the season. If they made a few more they might not have even needed overtime.
- The Knicks were in bad foul trouble early. Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson had three each in the first half. Towns picked up his third foul quickly and was limited to 9 minutes before intermission.
- Because of that, Towns, who led the Knicks with 24.4 points and 12.8 rebounds during the season, had just 13 and nine and they still won.
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) knocks the ball from the hands of Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) during the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Monday, May 5, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)AP
Despite their struggles, the Celtics still had a chance to get out of jail free when Brunson missed a clear look ahead of the fourth quarter buzzer to force overtime.
The Knicks were the team with the thin bench and were playing on the road. Overtime should have favored the Celtics. But New York thrived in the moment, while Boston found no salvation beyond regulation. The Celtics missed six of eight shots and turned the ball over twice. After scoring just 16 in the fourth, they had just five in overtime.
Boston missed 45 3-pointers in the game and clanged 13 of 15 of them in the fourth. Brown said the problem wasn’t just missing but continuing to shoot them as the Knicks made their comeback.
“In those moments when the other team has momentum, we can’t just fire up 3s. To break up momentum, we have to go to the free throw line, get to the paint, get to the basket,” he said. “Maybe get an easy two, hit some free throws. Then maybe the next 3 feels a little better. I felt like we just settled in the second half a lot.”
The Celtics came in hoping to crush any Knicks’ belief. Instead, they fueled it.
It’s human nature to doubt. Boston won all four regular-season meetings and smoked New York in the first three. The Knicks hadn’t really proven they could beat a championship contender all year.
They came in hoping they could beat Boston and believing they could beat Boston, but now they know it. And the Celtics are in for a fight.
“It was a great team win. We got into a hole, fought our way out and made big plays down the stretch,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “That’s huge for us.”
This is the first time Boston trailed in a playoff series since the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. Game 2 is not quite a must-win, but it’s big. How Boston responds could define them one way or another.
“It stings. We let our home crowd down. We’re looking forward to Game 2,” Brown said. “In reality, you have to have a short memory. We have to throw it away and get ready for Game 2. We don’t have time to let stuff carry over. We’ll make adjustments and come ready to play.”
