Revisiting the 20-0 run
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| The real Avery Bradley finally showed up. |
New York would not score again for the next 4:43. Avery Bradley hit a long jumper (his first points of the night) shortly thereafter, trimming the Knicks lead to 24. During the official timeout at the 8:48 mark, my buddy and I watched Doc Rivers still coaching hard, and wondered what he could possibly be saying to his team. I joked "Oh, he's just telling them to go on a quick twenty-five to nothing run and everything will be fine."
The next 2:09 were unlike anything I've ever seen on a basketball court. The Knicks turned the ball over 5 times during that span. Jeff Green hit two free throws, a three, and a layup (7 PTS), Paul Pierce nailed a 3 and a driving layup with the "and 1" (6 PTS), and Avery Bradley had a layup and 2 FT's (4 PTS), making the score 75-68 with 6:39 remaining.
Thousands of people who had been streaming towards the exits were suddenly back in there seats chanting D-FENSE! The deafening roar of the crowd would continue non-stop for the next several minutes. One more FT from Green capped the run at 20-0 before a Shumpert steal and layup got the Knicks back on the board at 77-69. Boston twice cut the lead down to 4; first at 77-73, and then at 79-75 after Bradley picked Carmelo Anthony's pocket for a breakaway dunk with 3:31 left.
After scoring just 10 points in the 1st quarter, 17 in the 2nd, and 20 in the 3rd, the Celtics dropped 26 in less than half of the 4th (over 5 minutes and 50 seconds between Bradley's first jumper and his final dunk); 17 of them coming in that magical 2:09 stretch.
Watch the full video here.
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