Healthy Celtics look to extend recent dominance over Knicks in East semifinal matchup

BOSTON (AP) — To say the Celtics have dominated the Knicks over the past two seasons would be an understatement.

New York lost all four of its meetings with Boston this season by an average of 16.5 points per game. That came after the Celtics won four of the teams’ five matchups during their 2023-24 championship season.

It’s more than enough reason for the defending NBA champs to feel confident heading into their Eastern Conference semifinals pairing with the Knicks, which tips off Monday night.

Just don’t tell that to Boston, which isn’t taking anything – or anyone – for granted at this point of the season.

“This is the playoffs. So everything we did in the regular season doesn’t really mean a whole lot now,” Celtics guard Derrick White said. “Not like we get to start up 1-0. So just understand it’s the playoffs. They’re here for a reason.”

A big part of the reason why Boston is on guard against New York is the play of All-Star Jalen Brunson. The recently named NBA clutch player of the year is averaging 31.5 points, 8.2 assists and four rebounds per game this postseason.

It includes a 40-point performance and what proved to be the winning 3-pointer in New York’s 116-113 Game 6 closeout win over Detroit.

“Big-time player. Seems to make all the big plays for them,” White said. “And he’s had an unbelievable year. And obviously this playoffs he’s taken it to another level. So it’s going to be a group effort to try to slow him down, and to understand that he’s a really good player, he’s going to make tough shots, but just trying to make it as difficult as we can for 48 minutes and just have a lot of different guys to try to slow him down.”

While Boston swept the season series with New York, it took a 119-117 overtime win that included late 3-pointers by Kristaps Porzingis and Jayson Tatum for the Celtics to prevail in the final regular season meeting on April 8.

Brunson believes how they learned and adjusted from the first three meetings showed up in that game. But he also knows progress isn’t enough at this point.

“I feel like we played better in that game. … Obviously still not getting it done,” Brunson said. “Played and competed better than the first three games, so that’s something we can look at and build off of.”

Holiday available

Celtics guard Jrue Holiday is expected to return from a strained right hamstring in Game 1. No Celtics players were listed on Sunday’s injury report. That includes Jaylen Brown, whose been dealing with a right knee issue. For Holiday, it’s the first time he hasn’t been on the injury report since he missed the final three games of Boston’s first-round win over Orlando. Holiday averaged 10 points, 5.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds in the opening two games of the Magic series.

Magic blueprint?

Though Orlando proved to be overmatched in their 4-1 series loss to Boston, one thing they were successful at was limiting the Celtics’ success from the 3-point line.

Boston connected on an NBA record for 3-pointers made (1,457) and attempted (3,955 total and 48.2 per game) during the regular season. But the Celtics averaged only 31.2 3-point attempts per game and only once hit at least 10 3-pointers in their series with the Magic.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said replicating that blueprint is the challenge for his team. He also said they don’t mind being a heavy underdog in this series.

“We always have the belief that whether it’s praise or criticism, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that really matters is what we think,” he said.

Porzingis vs. Knicks

This will be his first playoff matchup for Porzingis against the team that drafted him fourth overall in 2015 before trading him to Dallas in 2019.

He has been back to Madison Square Garden several times since the trade and said he’s mostly able to play emotion-free basketball at this point against his former team.

“I love playing there on the road,” Porzingis said. “My first couple of games there were pretty crazy there getting booed and stuff. But I think now the time has passed and it’s not as recent anymore and I’ve changed a couple of teams, the perspective is just whatever. … But it’s always fun to go up against them.”

Quarter-century slump

The Knicks are in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the third straight season but haven’t gone further in 25 years. Their injury-decimated team lost Game 7 at home last year to Indiana with a trip to Boston on the line and fell to Miami in 2023. The Knicks haven’t played in the East finals since losing to Indiana in 2000.

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AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney and freelancer Denis Gorman contributed to this story.

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