Knicks sense 'urgency' of playoffs after OT loss to Celtics
The New York Knicks sense the urgency of the 2025 NBA playoffs after Tuesday's 119-117 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics that doubled as a regular-season sweep.
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The Knicks were a defensive stop away from getting over the hump Tuesday against the Boston Celtics, but Jayson Tatum's triple with 3.1 seconds left in regulation tied the game and forced overtime. Five minutes later, the Celtics (59-20) swept New York (50-29) for the regular season in a 119-117 final.
"They're the defending champion," said Tom Thibodeau, whose Knicks fall to 0-4 against Boston in 2024-25. "Until someone proves that they can beat 'em, they're defending their championship. We know that there's a lot of work for us to do. We're still working through things. I thought Jalen (Brunson) gave us really good minutes. That's a big plus. Each game, he'll get better and better. But the playoffs will be here shortly, so there's urgency to this."
Boston previously beat New York 132-109 on Oct. 22, 131-104 on Feb. 8 and 118-105 on Feb. 23.
"I think it's something we can build off," said Brunson, who scored 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting and dished nine assists in 38 minutes of his second game back from an ankle injury that kept him out for a month. "There's a lot of things, positive, that we can take from this game. There's some negative things we can take.
"I think that's every game, not just this game in particular. But it's a little disappointing, just knowing that we fought back and had the chance."
Behind the Celtics as the Eastern Conference's third seed, the Knicks could get a second-round matchup with Boston soon enough.
"I think we did a good job of meeting their aggression, rebounding the ball better this game than other games, and just all-around better game, the execution," said Karl-Anthony Towns, who led New York with 34 points on 14-of-21 shooting while adding 14 rebounds in 43 minutes. "It gave us a better chance to win today, but they're a pretty good team.
"Give them credit where credit's due. Defending champions. They did exactly what defending champions do, keep staying disciplined, and they found themselves winning that game at the end."
