Say what you will about the New York Knicks … they certainly have the Hart.
Consecutive clutch triples from Josh Hart paved the way to one of the most thrilling victories of the season on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, as the Knicks earned a sterling postseason momentum-builder in the form of a 112-106 victory over the Boston Celtics.
It was a landmark night at MSG in more ways than one.
The Knicks (52-28) remained alive for the second seed on the Eastern Conference playoff bracket (as well as the Atlantic Division title) and secured their best win total since getting 54 in 2012-13.
It was also the first time Celtics star Jayson Tatum made his way onto MSG hardwood since the devastating Achilles injury sustained during Game 4 of the team’s conference semifinal playoff series last spring.
Tatum performed well in his return (falling two assists short of a triple-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds) but it was not match for the co-hosts of the “Roommates Show”: Hart put up 26 points, 15 alone over the last dozen, including a pair of clutch triples sunk in the final minute that helped the Knicks seal the deal. Brunson had 25 points and 10 assists, uniting with Mikal Bridges to dish out all eight New York assists in the last frame.
With a potential postseason rematch lingering among the storylines, a special aura loomed on 7th and 8th Avenue, even if Boston sat Tatum’s fellow franchise player, Jaylen Brown, out in the opener of a back-to-back.
Familiar faces originally took over in the early going: Bridges scored each of the Knicks’ first seven points after his defensive antics secured the prior postseason victories, while Brunson had 10 in the first period, while Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns sought their shooting touch.
Neither team led by more than seven in the first half but the Knicks opened the game up with an 18-6 run over the first five-plus minutes of the third. It was a run that began with four straight triples from the arms of Hart, Bridges, and OG Anunoby before dominant drives from Towns capped things off and led to a Boston timeout.
The Celtics, however, played up to their outside reputation: an onslaught from beyond the arc began with reserves Payton Pritchard, Baylor Scheierman, and Nikola Vucevic hitting two each in the third, allowing them to tie the game by the two-minute mark. A new emergence from Tatum further upped the Boston momentum and they had the lead entering the closer.
New York’s deficit reached seven early in the fourth but after Hart tied the game with a three and a drive, neither team led by more than two until the final minute thanks to dueling jumpers from Scheierman (a perfect 4-of-4 in the fourth) and the late prowess of Hart and Towns (who would reach his traditional double-double with 16 points and 12 boards while swiping two steals in the fourth).
In the end, it was Hart that provided the ultimate breakaway, putting the Knicks up five with a triple that fell through with 42.9 seconds remaining. Boston briefly narrowed the gap with a Vucevic double but Hart immediately responded on the other end with another triple that created the final margin, becoming the unexpected hero with reigning Clutch Player of the Year Brunson on the floor.
Hart had also given the Knicks the lasting lead in the penultimate minute, as Brunson found him alone under the basket after Scheierman put up a Garden silencer that proved to be temporary. His final tally of 25 is his second-best of the season, behind only 33 earned in a March 17 win over Indiana.
Though Boston (54-26) remains two games ahead of the Knicks for the runner-up spot in the East, it dropped the season series to its lasting rival by a 3-1 final. Pritchard and Scheierman combined for 43 points off the bench, but it wasn’t enough to keep a four-game winning streak alive. New York holds the tiebreaker if the two teams finish with the same record.
The Knicks play their penultimate game of the season on Friday night, as another potential playoff preview awaits against the Toronto Raptors (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
