Carmelo Anthony dubs Game 2 a must-win for New York

Almost a year ago today, the Celtics were in the same position. Without home court advantage, they dropped the first game of their first round series to the Atlanta Hawks. They had just one more chance to try and flip the series around and steal home court advantage from the Hawks.

A Herculean 36-point effort from Paul Pierce did just that, as the Celtics went on to win the next four out of five games and move on to the next round.

Maybe it's with that in mind that Carmelo Anthony of the Knicks deemed tonight's game a must win for New York.

Carmelo called Game 2 a "must-win." The Knicks are definitely wary of coming back to Boston tied 1-1, knowing the crowd that awaits on Fri.

— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) April 23, 2013

Doc Rivers always says a series doesn't truly begin until a team loses a game at home. If the Knicks are up 2-0 that certainly makes things a lot tougher for Boston, though not impossible. Down 2-0 against Miami last year, the Celtics were able to take command of the series by winning the next three before falling in Games 6 and 7.

The best thing for the Celtics would be to steal home court advantage with a win in New York and bring things back to what's sure to be an emotional and roudy homecrowd that has yet to see their Celtics since last Monday's tragedy.