Are the New York Knicks stealing this series, or are the Celtics blowing it? Either way, it’s grand theater.
I played against this team out of Tulsa one time. This was around the turn of the millennium, some AAU basketball tournament. They were called, hand to God, the Fighting Lawn Chairs. The FLCs wore T-shirt jerseys, and under the team name was their rallying cry: We never fold. I was thinking about the Fighting Lawn Chairs on Wednesday night as I watched Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, because the Boston Celtics? They fold. They fold slowly, in brutal, spectacular ways. They have turned folding into a grand spectacle. The champs are not here. Haven’t seen them in a few days. The champs were here, and they’d better get back quickly or summer’s starting early.
Games 1 and 2 of Celtics-Knicks are sort of an Olyphant-Duhamel situation. They don’t look the exact same, but if you squint, they’re twins. In both games, Boston held 20-point second-half leads and both times managed to fumble the W away in the end. The Celtics are the first team in the play-by-play era to blow multiple 20-point leads in the same postseason, and they did it in back-to-back games. The Knicks, meanwhile, are the first team in the play-by-play era to have 20-point comebacks in consecutive games. This is because the Knicks will not quit and because the Celtics’ shooting has left them. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White, the team’s three best players, have been unable to get anything going, unable to catch a rhythm; Tatum is shooting 29 percent in the series, and Brown is at 35 percent. In two games, the Celtics have taken 100 3s and made 25. That’s not cold; that’s Snowpiercer.
In the biggest moments, they have looked [runs into pole]. This is surprising for a defending champion, even one whose offense before last postseason had a tendency to get a little iso-heavy and stale in must-score moments. At the end of Game 2, after the Knicks had surged into the lead on a 21-2 run, the Celtics ran the same play on back-to-back possessions: a high screen for Tatum just in front of half court to get him going downhill and put pressure on the rim. The first time, it went gangbusters. Tatum crossed up Mitchell Robinson, left him in his wake, got into the lane, and punched one home. The Celtics, who hadn’t made a field goal in more than eight minutes of gameplay, must have been so excited that something finally worked offensively that they decided to do the same thing on the next possession. Down one, with the seconds ticking down, Al Horford set his screen again, but the Knicks were ready for it, picked Tatum up lower, harassed his dribble, and forced him into the left short corner, where OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges converged. Tatum got stuck, and the Knicks won, 91-90. Now they’ll head back to New York with a 2-0 series lead, in pole position to upset a title favorite who beat them all four times they played in the regular season.
More similarities. Games 1 and 2 ended on game-winning defensive plays from Bridges. This performance alone, in this spot, justifies the five firsts. In Game 1, he rips the ball out of Brown’s hands, just takes it from him, throws the ball to the other end, then gets mobbed. Game 2, he stymies Tatum’s final possession, just takes it from him, throws the ball to the other end, then gets mobbed. On Wednesday night, Bridges was a flamethrower in the fourth. He played the entire frame, scored 14 points, and outplayed both of Boston’s vaunted wings.
Did the Celtics blow these games, or did the Knicks take them? Both. One team can’t fold unless another applies pressure. It takes two to create a historic playoff collapse, and the Knicks deserve credit. As the Celtics bricked shot after shot in the fourth quarter of Game 2, the Knicks stayed vigilant. Bridges and Jalen Brunson hit massive shots. Josh Hart did Josh Hart things, including three offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter. And the Knicks amped up the defensive pressure, flying around in rotation and in driving lanes.
Let’s say you met an alien. And the alien is cool and nice, like ET but a little more verbal. (Still a cool alien, though. Definitely gets shit-hammered and watches old movies.) And let’s say you and your new alien amigo sat down and watched Celtics-Knicks last night. The alien has never seen basketball before, and at the end of the game, you tell it that the Celtics won the title last season. The alien would not believe you. The Knicks have been tougher, steadier, more resilient.
Neither numbers nor history is on Boston’s side now. Throughout NBA history, teams that go up 2-0 on the road have a 38-5 series record. That goes to 29-2 if we remove first-round series from the equation. Theoretically, the Celtics have the munitions to fight out of this, but it’s hard to have much faith that will happen if their second halves remain this ineffectual, this discombobulated, this inexplicably bunk. Many have gone to New York to find themselves, to change their situation, to do what others think they can’t. The Celtics join their legion.
In the lead-up to Game 2, Paul Pierce joined Speak on FS1 wearing a shirt from Dan Flashes. The chyron says, “Paul, how confident are you the Celtics blow out the Knicks?”
Pierce says: “If the Celtics lose Game 2 at home, I promise you, I’m walking here tomorrow. I’m walking here. I’m walking here, 15 miles. I’m walking here. In my robe. No shoes on, bare feet. If the Celtics lose tonight, I’m walking … I’m telling you right now. Nah, I’m taking this serious. Nah. Nah. Nah. Ain’t no way. In a robe, barefoot … I guarantee this one. Put the house on this game. No shot we losing. No chance. You got a better chance of walking out of this studio and seeing a dinosaur.”
Rest in pieces to Pierce’s feet. That’s a long road to walk just to eat shit.
Tyler Parker
Tyler Parker is a staff writer at The Ringer and the author of ‘A Little Blood and Dancing.’This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
