The Celtics take care of the New York Knicks 110-94


The Boston Celtics easily took care of the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden Sunday afternoon, winning 110-94. The Celts really had control the whole way and their six double-digit scorers were too much for New York to handle.

The Celtics starters were dominant from the opening tip-off. 67% shooting from the floor, including 4/9 from three, propelled Boston to an early 30-15 lead. Isaiah Thomas got into double-figures after 11 minutes and when subbed out, had 10 points and three assists.

After being taken out just seconds into the game for what seemed to be a miscue on an opening play, Jaylen Brown had a nice impact when he reentered. He knocked down a couple of threes and had this dunk off a baseline cut:



The Celtics outrebounded the Knicks 11-3, and New York couldn't get into any sort of rhythm on offense. However, when Isaiah and Al Horford came out of the game, the Knicks finished with a small scoring burst - inlcuding a buzzer-beating Courtney Lee three - to cut their deficit to 11:



Kelly Olynyk and Jae Crowder led the way for Boston in the second quarter. Halfway through the frame, they had combined for as many second-quarter points as the whole Knicks team (9 points). This helped the Celts build their lead up to 18 points. Everyone was getting touches on offense throughout the half, as every Celtic player to enter the game got in the scoring column and contributed to strong ball movement like this:



New York ended the half with another little run - this time back-to-back threes - to trim Boston's 19-point advantage down to 13:



Brad Stevens called a timeout 30 seconds into the second half after Kristaps Porzingis finished a lob over Horford, who thought that the dunk had missed. Maybe a fire was lit under Al because following the timeout, he was all over the place. He knocked down a corner three, and had these two ferosious slams:





Al with authority! Boston's role players kept up the strong team play. Marcus Smart, Olynyk, and Brown, in particular, put in solid performances to not only preserve the Celtics lead, but add to it:



Once there was a 25-point lead late in the third, the rest of the game was all about the Celtics' youth, who continued punishing the Knicks. Terry Rozier, Smart, Brown, and Olynyk were all clicking together and made for some entertaining highlight-reel plays.

From Smart to Brown:



Rozier to Smart:



and Olynyk to Brown:



So. Many. Dunks. Isaiah led six double-digit scorers with 19 points, while Brown added 16, Smart and Horford put up 14 each, and Olynyk and Rozier chipped in 12 apiece:



In less fun news, Jae Crowder left the game with a sore left elbow. X-rays came back negative. The Celtics will be back home on Wednesday for their showdown with the Cleveland Cavaliers.



Follow Erik Johnson on Twitter: @erikjohnson32

Photo via @celtics

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