0-2 behind! The Celtics suffered a 20-point comeback, Tatum made 5 of 19, Bridges steals and kills

Editor|Lao Kankan Ball

On May 8, the second round of the NBA 2024-25 playoffs ushered in the focus of the Eastern Conference, and the Boston Celtics continued to sit at home to face the New York Knicks. In the first game, the Celtics lost Jingzhou carelessly and suffered a 20-point comeback, falling behind the Knicks 0-1 with a big score, and the situation is not optimistic. The fundamental reason for the G1 defeat was that in addition to Porzingis' exit due to illness, the most important thing was that they collectively missed the outside world, making only 15 of 60 three-pointers, with a shooting percentage of only 25%. Among them, 45 three-pointers also set the highest record in a single game in the NBA playoffs. They missed 13 shots in the fourth quarter alone, which directly led to a comeback. In terms of players, the double-team performance was poor, Tatum made 4 of 15 three-pointers, and Jaylen Brown made 1 of 10, each of which was worse than the other at critical moments.

"When the team's momentum is wrong, we cannot just shoot three-pointers. We must dare to hit the basket and cause damage, go to the free throw line, and break the opponent's momentum!" Jaylen Brown said in an interview with reporters, "We are too conservative. We need to rush into the inside and strive to easily get two points, so that we will have greater confidence in the next three-pointer!" It has to be said that this is the first time that the Celtics have been in a passive situation in the series since the 23-year playoffs. Now that the pressure is given to them, the Double Tanhua should stand up. Before the game, US media ESPN also gave a prediction of the winning rate of today's game: the Knicks' winning rate rose to 42.3% (compared with G1 only 32.4%), and the Celtics' winning rate dropped to 57.7%. Obviously, US media is still optimistic that the Celtics can tie the big score to 1-1. In terms of starting lineup, all players can play on the Knicks side. The starting five-man teams lined up by coach Thibodeau are: Towns, Brunson, Bridges, OG Anunobi, Hart; on the Celtics, Hauser is absent due to injury, Porzingis is likely to play, and the starting lineup is: White, Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Holiday, and Porzingis.

The first quarter started, Jaylen Brown missed consecutive shots, while the Knicks made consecutive low-level mistakes. Both sides started slowly and scored only 2 points in the game in nearly 4 minutes. Zhu Holiday made a counterattack and made Brunson foul. After watching the video, the referee called two free throws and one free throw. The Celtics led the Knicks 5-0. Towns hit Horford with a hook shot, finally breaking the team's scoring drought in the past five minutes. Jaylen Brown scored 4 points in a row in the middle distance, White counterattacked and chased three-pointer, and the Celtics led by 12 points and directly stopped the Knicks. Hart made a steadily three-pointer against White, stabilizing the situation slightly. After Brunson made 0 of 5 shots, he defended against the two from the basket, turned around and scored in the moon, but did not score a single point before. Horford and Bridges scored three-pointers and made a slap in the iron. After the first quarter, the Knicks were still 11 points behind the Celtics 13-24.

In the first quarter, the Knicks made only 6 of 23 shots, only 13 points, Brunson scored only 2 points in 1 of 6 shots, and Anunobi and Bridges scored 0 points.

Back in the second quarter, Towns attacked Horford at the basket and scored 2+1. In the second round, Towns once again caused 2+1, roared to celebrate, and one man scored 8 points in a row to lead the team to narrow the gap to 5 points. Jaylen Brown received the ball from the bottom corner and hit a big open three-pointer, then scored 2+1, and immediately returned. Brunson defended Jaylen Brown and the referee made no statement. The Celtics then caused a three-point foul and received three free throws. Holiday stealed and counterattacked White, who made another three-pointer in the open space, and the Celtics widened the gap to 16 points again. Brunson made a fake move to shake Holiday and hit the first three-pointer in the game. Holiday was intercepted by a pass. Hart counterattacked and dunked again. At the end of the half, the Knicks chased to a 9-point difference 41-50.

Half-time data, on the Celtics, Jaylen Brown made 7 of 16 shots and scored 17 points and 6 rebounds, and 2 steals; Tatum played in 21 minutes and scored only 2 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists.

On the Knicks, Towns made 6 of 11 shots, scoring the team's highest 14 points and 10 rebounds; Brunson was strictly guarded, and played 3 of 10 shots in 19 minutes, scoring 7 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists, and 2 turnovers, with a plus or negative value of -13; Bridges played for 22 minutes, 0 of 6 shots (0 of 1 three-pointer) and did not score a single point, with only 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

The side changes again, Tatum broke through hard on the outside with the ball, and ended the score with a dunk at the basket. OG-Aninobi caught the ball on the top of the arc and flew directly to the sky and dunk White, but was called by the referee for an offensive foul, and Thibodeau did not choose to challenge. Towns collided with Jaylen Brown without the ball, and the referee called Towns for a foul again. The referee was called for two consecutive rounds to disrupt the rhythm, and the referee was a little stole the show. Tatum made a pass from Connet, who entered the inside and easily dunked. Jaylen Brown made another three-pointer, and the Celtics instantly led by 20 points.

The final match in the fourth quarter, Bridges finally scored the first point in the game, and then crossed the line with two points and made a big open three-pointer, scoring 13 points in a single quarter, and the Knicks caught up to the 5-point difference. Brunson scored consecutively at the basket, and the Knicks scored a 23-2 offensive climax, overtaking the Celtics by 3 points. Tatum was again intercepted by Bridges in the last attack. In the end, the Knicks defeated the Celtics 91-90, completing a 20-point reversal in two consecutive games, and the Celtics fell behind 0-2 with a big score.

In terms of data, on the Celtics, Tatum scored only 13 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 turnovers; Jaylen Brown scored 20 points, 6 rebounds and 6 turnovers; White contributed 20 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks; Porzingis contributed 8 points, 4 rebounds and 1 turnover.

On the Knicks' side, Brunson made 6 of 19 shots and scored 17 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists; Anunobi scored 5 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals and 1 block; Towns made a contribution, scoring 21 points, 17 rebounds, 3 fouls; Hart contributed 23 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks.