Knicks crush Celtics 105-75 in Boston

A 5 game losing streak was snapped by the New York Knicks yesterday as they dismantled a Tatum-less Boston Celtics, 105-75.

Julius Randle scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while RJ Barrett followed him with 19 and 11 as both starters connected double-doubles.

The Celtics, who were the top team in the Eastern Conference prior to the game, didn’t put much resistance with Jayson Tatum out with Covid-19 and Kemba Walker having his minutes limited and never led.

After taking an 11 point lead in the first quarter, the Knicks continued to push and expanded to 15 in the second, 23 in the third and 37 with less than four minutes to play. Coach Tom Thibodeau, who turned 63, couldn’t have been more happy about this birthday present.

“I actually grew up a Knick fan, my dad was a Knick fan. Then when I went to school in Boston, it was in the mid ’80s so I became a Celtic fan. The irony of it all is I ended up working for both teams. If you grow up in Connecticut, it doesn’t get much better than that. Thrilled to be part of two storied organizations.”

– Tom Thibodeau

The young rooks also delivered for New York. Immanuel Quickley had 17 buckets and 8 dimes and Obi Toppin, who’s slowly making a comeback after missing most of December, scored 12 points and collected 5 boards in 17 minutes – the most he played since the injury in the opener.

“He was terrific in training camp. To get an injury like he had, it’s not an easy thing to deal with – particularly for a guy going through the league for the first time.”

– Tom Thibodeau

The Celtics, who now fell 8-4, were led by Jaylen Brown’s 25 points. The only other Celtic that scored double figures was Marcus Smart with 10 buckets.

The Knicks shot close to 50% from the field compared to Celtics’ 29.8% and also excelled from the free throw line making 17-21 shots to Boston’s 18-29.

Next-up: the Knicks (6-8) will host the Magic (6-7) in about an hour.