Tremendous Bowl Sunday began on a bitter word for Boston followers.
Hours earlier than the Patriots and Seahawks squared off throughout the nation in Santa Clara, Calif., the Celtics fell to the Knicks, 111-89, at TD Backyard in a battle of Jap Convention contenders.
Boston and New York have spent the previous a number of weeks jockeying for the No. 2 spot within the East standings behind first-place Detroit. The Celtics entered Sunday with a one-game lead over their Atlantic Division rivals, however the Knicks dominated this matchup, constructing a 20-point fourth-quarter lead earlier than C’s head coach Joe Mazzulla pulled his starters with 5 minutes remaining.
One shiny spot for Boston: Baylor Scheierman, who tallied 10 factors, 13 rebounds and 5 assists and was the one Celtics participant to complete with a constructive plus/minus. Jaylen Brown led the workforce with 26 factors on 11-of-25 capturing, however the Celtics had been outscored by 14 factors over his 33 minutes.
It was an particularly tough outing for Boston’s bench, which featured trade-deadline pickup Nikola Vucevic and starter-turned-sixth man Payton Pritchard.
Vucevic (11 factors, six rebounds) went 5-for-13 and was a minus-24 in 23 minutes in his second sport in inexperienced. Pritchard, who’d notched three straight 20-point outings since changing the departed Anfernee Simons as Boston’s second-unit quarterback, had six factors on 2-of-9 capturing and was a minus-27. Every shot 1-for-6 from 3-point vary through the Celtics’ ugliest capturing efficiency in years.
Mazzulla’s squad tried 41 3-pointers and made seven. That 17.1% success charge was Boston’s worst in a sport since 2021.
“I feel we created a bunch of open appears to be like,” Brown stated. “Simply acquired to step in with confidence and knock them down. I feel our offense, we did a superb job creating benefits. Simply acquired to make some pictures we didn’t make in the present day. It occurs. They made pictures, and I feel that was the distinction.”
The loss snapped a five-game win streak for the 34-19 Celtics, who will play their remaining sport earlier than the NBA All-Star break Wednesday evening in opposition to the Chicago Bulls at TD Backyard.
The Celtics began their Neemias Queta-Luka Garza double-big lineup for the third straight sport and plugged Scheierman in for the injured Sam Hauser, who missed the sport with low again spasms.
After an evenly matched begin, New York constructed a nine-point lead in opposition to a brand new Boston grouping that featured Vucevic and two-way wing Ron Harper Jr., who noticed first-quarter minutes for the second time in three video games with Hauser sidelined. (President of basketball operations Brad Stevens referred to as Harper “a stud” on Friday. He’s a candidate to take one in every of Boston’s three open roster spots, two of which the workforce should fill throughout the subsequent 11 days.)
Vucevic picked up three fouls throughout his first eight-minute shift after which sat till the third quarter.
The Knicks’ lead hit double digits after Jalen Brunson (31 factors, eight assists) beat Jordan Walsh — again within the combine after his first wholesome DNP since early November — for consecutive baskets. The guests led 35-24 after one quarter, with Brunson offering 15 of New York’s factors.
Very similar to Friday evening, once they overcame a 22-point deficit to beat the Miami Warmth, the Celtics struggled to seek out their shot early within the sport, going 2-for-13 from 3-point vary within the first quarter.
Scheierman misfired on his first 4 3-point makes an attempt, however he helped spur a second-quarter rally together with his passing and rebounding. The second-year professional assisted on two Derrick White threes and a reverse layup by Brown as Boston reduce a 14-point deficit to eight.
By halftime, Scheierman already had set a single-game profession excessive for assists (5) and was one shy of his private greatest in rebounds (9). He additionally performed aggressive protection in opposition to New York’s two All-Stars, Brunson and Karl-Anthony Cities.
“I feel clearly his offensive rebounding, however his rebounding outdoors of his space is an enormous one,” stated Mazzulla, who’s began Scheierman in seven video games this season. “So whether or not he’s boxing the man out or whether or not he’s on the perimeter, he comes again and crashes defensively and will get these, and in order that helps us get out in transition. However I feel he’s enjoying at an awesome degree for us defensively, and actually on the rebounding piece on each ends.”
Mazzulla once more took unconventional steps to restrict enjoying time for Cities’ backup, elite rebounder Mitchell Robinson. Halfway by means of the second quarter, Mazzulla inserted rookie heart Amari Williams, had him deliberately foul Robinson, then referred to as Williams again to the bench. Queta fouled Robinson away from the ball on the following Knicks possession.
The “Hack-A-Mitch” method, which Boston used at instances in final yr’s Jap Convention semifinals, labored. Robinson, a profession 51.2% free-throw shooter, missed all 4 foul pictures earlier than being pulled by Knicks head coach Mike Brown.
The Celtics closed the quarter on a 10-4 run and trailed 60-53 at halftime. White scored 17 within the half. Brown had 13, then added one other 13 within the third quarter.
Starters from each groups acquired into foul hassle within the third. Scheierman drew the fourth on Josh Hart whereas battling for a rebound, and Queta picked up his fourth and fifth whereas making an attempt to field out Robinson.
The whistles in opposition to Queta led to extra minutes for Vucevic. And although the veteran heart pressured one turnover by drawing a Cities cost in transition, he couldn’t replicate the influence he had in his encouraging Celtics debut two nights earlier.
Down 4 when Vucevic checked in on the 7:44 mark of the third, Boston was outscored 21-7 over the rest of the quarter and trailed 85-68 getting into the fourth.
Discovering the most effective methods to combine the 35-year-old Vucevic, who gives a distinct set of expertise than Queta or Garza, might be a precedence for the Celtics because the All-Star layoff looms.
“We’ve acquired to determine the chemistry a little bit bit, the move a little bit bit,” Brown stated. “We wish Vuc to be a little bit bit extra aggressive, searching for him to get going and make him really feel assured in taking these pictures and the place he can catch the ball. I feel he’s nonetheless studying, however we want him to be aggressive. So we’ll make changes, we’ll talk, we’ll watch movie, and we’ll be higher for it.”
