NEW YORK CITY — Under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden, and with nothing at stake but an unwavering competitive spirit, the Celtics won their 9th straight road game, a 119-117 overtime thriller over the New York Knicks.
The Celtics rolled out their regular starting lineup despite six players being listed on the injury report and saw everyone suit up except Al Horford, who was ruled out with a knee sprain the day prior.
Jayson Tatum (32 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists) and Kristaps Porzingis (34 points on 8-13 from three) both hit clutch threes down the stretch to secure the victory, Tatum’s coming at the end of regulation and Porzingis’s at the end of overtime.
And, based on how they battled down the stretch, you’d never guess that the standings were solidified and the Celtics were locked into No. 2 in the East regardless of Tuesday’s outcome.
“We still got some things we can work on, and going out there competing on a stage like this, what else would you rather do?” Derrick White said. “We’re out there and we’re in the game — might as well go and try to get a win.”
Here’s what stood out from on the ground in Madison Square Garden.
Jayson Tatum continues to establish himself as one of the NBA’s all-time clutch players
Jayson Tatum is historically clutch — at least, that’s what the numbers say.
Since shot tracking began in 1997, 65 NBA players have taken at least 50 shots to tie or take the lead in the last 24 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime. Tatum has the third-best field goal percentage in such a scenario, shooting 36.8% on 57 attempts.
Against the Knicks, Tatum added another big crunch-time shot to his resume, hitting a pull-up three over OG Anunoby with 2.9 seconds left in regulation to tie the game.
The three-pointer came a possession after Tatum was fouled on a three by Karl Anthony-Towns and hit two of three free throws.
He bounced back quickly from the miss.
“Next play,” Tatum said of his mindset. “Shit happens. I wanted to make all three but missed it; they came and made a shot. I was just trying to make up for it, make a play. And, I did.”
Ultimately, the Celtics’ leading scorer scored 12 of the team’s final 16 points of regulation.
Kristaps Porzingis catches fire from (really) deep
Kristaps Porzingis nailed 8 of 13 three-point attempts in the win, tying his career-high.
But he couldn’t have seen the three-point onslaught coming.
“This morning in shootaround and pregame, my shot was way off, but that’s how it works out a lot of times,” Porzingis said. “Once I saw the ball going in, I just let it fly without thinking, and it was a good night.”
The biggest three of the night came with the score tied with 41 seconds to play in regulation, all the way from the logo. Porzingis laughed as he recalled his decision to shoot such a deep three with 7 seconds remaining on the shot clock.
“The ball rolled to me, and I said this is destiny,” Porzingis said with a smile,
This season, Porzingis is shooting a career-best 41.6% from three despite shooting the deepest threes of his career and having one of the longest three-point shoot distance averages in the league.
Porzingis said earlier in his career, he explored moving in his three-point shot a little bit closer, but he found that it didn’t make him more efficient.
“I have tried to see if my efficiency goes up when I get closer to the three-point line, but it really doesn’t,” Porzingis said. “I am just comfortable shooting a little bit out, and it helps our offense, stretching the defense out more. So if my efficiency doesn’t change, I will take those deeper ones, and maybe it is a comfort thing — knowing the defender won’t be able to get there for a decent contest. I take my time and let it fly.”
His teammates continue to be in awe of how he can help them on the floor.
“KP is unbelievable,” Derrick White said. “He missed a couple early and then just kept shooting from further and further away.”
No one cares about the Celtics’ season sweep of the Knicks
With the overtime win, the Celtics have won all four of their games against the Knicks, outscoring New York by 65 points in the season sweep and shooting 44% from three.
But, no one on the Celtics is taking much away from the regular season results.
“It means nothing,” Joe Mazzulla said. “If anything, it is more dangerous for us, thinking one, that we’re going to get to the second round — we may not get there. You have to surrender to that.”
“There’s so much that needs to happen before that. If you don’t handle what you’ve done against somebody else, then that could actually be more detrimental to you psychologically.”
Derrick White sounded just like his head coach when asked about the team’s dominance over New York this season.
“It means absolutely nothing,” he said.
Jaylen Brown sits the entire fourth quarter and overtime
Jaylen Brown struggled in the win as he continues to battle a knee injury, finishing with 6 points on 2-8 shooting, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, and 5 rebounds.
Brown, who has been on a minutes restriction that’s kept him below 30 minutes a night since March 15th, played just 21 minutes, sitting out the entire fourth quarter and overtime.
Mazzulla didn’t go into much detail when asked about his decision not to play Brown in the final 17 minutes of the game, stating: “We just got what we needed to get out of him as he continues to push himself and test himself. We still have games left, and so we just got what we needed to get, what we needed to see.”
Porzingis, meanwhile, suggested that there might not be value in Brown pushing through the pain during the home stretch of the regular season.
“He’s a tough dude,” he said. “He always preaches his warrior mindset. He lives by it. But to what extent we need that right now? Maybe he needs to take care of it and make sure he’s going to be ready for the most important moment.”
On the sidelines, Brown remained engaged the rest of the way, but never checked back into the game. He’s missed 8 games since the All-Star break dealing with the knee injury, which the team has officially communicated as a “bone bruise with posterior impingement in his right knee” which he has mostly continued to play through.
Doesn’t look like Jaylen Brown will play in the fourth — he’s played 21 minutes tonight
He’s in good spirits & clapping up the huddle with 3 mins to play pic.twitter.com/4AqeI2GjrK
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) April 9, 2025
The Celtics are one win away from the NBA all-time road record
With the win, the Celtics have a league-best 33-7 record on the road. A victory on Wednesday in Orlando would tie them with the 2015-16 Warriors for the best all-time road record.
But, Mazzulla said after the win against the Knicks that he wasn’t even aware of the accolade. And, at shootaround Tuesday morning, Payton Pritchard similarly rejected the notion that the record was something the Celtics were going for.
“You can have that and not win the championship, and nobody remembers,” Pritchard said.
Still, as winners of 17 of their last 18 games outside of TD Garden, it’s undeniable that the Celtics have simply been special on the road. They currently have the second-best road scoring differential in NBA history, outscoring opponents by 10.15 points per game. Only the 1972 Lakers, who outscored opponents by 11.32 points en route to an NBA championship, finished the season with a better road differential.
“I think just as the season went on, it was just an identity that the guys have developed,” Mazzulla said. “We have to be able to win big games and close games and tough games regardless, but that’s just kind of a small piece of an identity that this particular team has taken on.”
