Celtics vs. Knicks score: Jalen Brunson leads eerily similar Game 2 comeback, Boston blows 20-point lead again

The Knicks won Game 2 in shockingly similar fashion to how they won Game 1

It was déjà vu in Boston on Wednesday night. The New York Knicks are improbably up 2-0 in their second-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics after another 20-point comeback in Game 2. Mikal Bridges blocked Jayson Tatum on the final possession of the game to give the Knicks a 91-90 win.

This is the first time in NBA history that a team has come back from 20 points to win in two consecutive playoff games.

Bridges didn't score in the first three quarters of the game, then scored 14 points in the final frame before the big stop, which followed two clutch free throws from Jalen Brunson.

New York outscored Boston 30-17 in the fourth and finished the game on a 23-6 run to complete their second consecutive unbelievable comeback victory on the road. The Knicks were also down by 20 in the second half before coming back for an overtime win in Game 1. 

"We just never quit. We truly play to the last horn. We leave it all on the court and let the result be what it is," Karl-Anthony Towns told reporters after Game 2.

In a stunning trend, home teams still have not yet to win a playoff game in the second round. All higher seeds, they are now 0-6 after the Celtics' loss.

Brunson didn't have a particularly efficient night -- 17 points (6-19 FG, 2-9 3PT, 3-4 FT) and seven assists in 38 minutes -- but, aside from Karl-Anthony Towns (21 points on 9-for-16 shooting) and Josh Hart (23 points on 9-for-15 shooting), almost nobody did for New York. The Knicks won this game ugly. 

The Celtics shot 34 for 94 (36.2%) as a team, including 10 for 40 (25%) from 3-point range. They won the possession game, but that didn't matter because they shot so terribly (again). Boston has missed a record 75 combined 3s through the two games this series. 

Jayson Tatum finished with just 13 points and struggled again down the stretch. He had a go-ahead dunk with 18 seconds left, but otherwise had a tough time scoring. The Celtics star has just six fourth-quarter points through two games and is 0-for-7 on 3-pointers in the final frame. Derrick White and Jaylen Brown both scored 20 points to lead Boston.

Game 3 is Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

[May 7, 2025 at 9:25 pm ET · James Herbert]

🚨Game 2 final: Knicks 91, Celtics 90

Mikal Bridges came up with a steal against Jayson Tatum on the final possession of the game to give the Knicks a one-point victory in Game 2 of their second-round series against the Celtics on Wednesday. New York has a 2-0 lead in the series.

This is the first time in NBA history that a team has come back from 20 points to win in two consecutive playoff games.

Bridges didn't score in the first three quarters of the game, then scored 14 points in the final frame before the big stop, which followed two clutch free throws from Jalen Brunson.

New York trailed 24-13 at the end of the first quarter and was down by as many as 20 points in the third. The team then went on a 21-4 run in the fourth quarter. This is a second consecutive unbelievable comeback victory on the road for the Knicks.

Brunson didn't have a particularly efficient night -- 17 points (6-19 FG, 2-9 3PT, 3-4 FT) and seven assists in 38 minutes -- but, aside from Karl-Anthony Towns (21 points on 9-for-16 shooting) and Josh Hart (23 points on 9-for-15 shooting), almost nobody did for New York. The Knicks won this game ugly. 

The Celtics shot 34 for 94 (36.2%) as a team, including 10 for 40 (25%) from 3-point range. They won the possession game, but that didn't matter because they shot so terribly (again).

Game 3 is Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

A road team still has not lost a playoff game in the second round. 

[May 7, 2025 at 9:24 pm ET · James Herbert]

Brunson puts Knicks up 1

The Clutch Player of the Year has put the Knicks back in front. Jalen Brunson hit Jrue Holiday with a spin move, then drew a foul and made both free throws to give the Knicks a 91-90 lead with 12.7 seconds left.

[May 7, 2025 at 9:22 pm ET · James Herbert]

Can Knicks steal another one?

With 18.5 seconds left, New York is down 90-89 and has the ball. Jayson Tatum just threw down a huge dunk to give the Celtics a lead. It was their first made field goal since the 8:40 mark of the fourth quarter.  

No matter how the game ends, this has been an incredible comeback for the Knicks. 

[May 7, 2025 at 9:16 pm ET · James Herbert]

Knicks take first lead of the game

With a stepback jumper over Jrue Holiday, Jalen Brunson gave the Knicks their first lead of the game with about two minutes on the clock. The Knicks are on a 19-2 run.

Boston has now missed 12 consecutive shots.

This is the Celtics' nightmare.

1:15 left. New York is up 87-86.

[May 7, 2025 at 9:12 pm ET · James Herbert]

Here come the Knicks (again)

Well, well, well. New York has gone on a 14-2 run in the span of about six minutes. With 2:43 left, the Celtics are up 86-82. 

Jaylen Brown just missed a completely uncontested pull-up 3-pointer, and TNT's Reggie Miller said that he "settled" for a 3. That's not what "settled" means, but Boston is once again missing a ton of good looks. The Celtics are shooting 10 for 40 from 3-point range in Game 2 after going 15 for 60 from 3-point range in Game 1.

Mikal Bridges is up to 14 points, all in the fourth.

[May 7, 2025 at 9:03 pm ET · James Herbert]

Bridges is alive

After going scoreless in the first three quarters, Mikal Bridges has nine of the Knicks' 11 points in the fourth. Given that they started the final frame with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns on the bench, they really needed this from Bridges.

What they didn't need was this:

With 6:39 left in the fourth, though, New York is down 84-72, which means it didn't lose any ground in these non-Brunson minutes. The Clutch Player of the Year about to check back in after a timeout. Let's see if the Knicks have another crazy comeback in them.

[May 7, 2025 at 8:51 pm ET · James Herbert]

End of third quarter: Celtics 73, Knicks 61

We've seen this before: After a Kristaps Porzingis 3 gave the Celtics a 73-53 lead with about three minutes left in the third, the Knicks closed the quarter on an 8-0 run. Boston committed four turnovers late in the quarter, and it also missed two open 3s and a tip-in on one trip: 

The Knicks' Josh Hart scored 10 points in the third quarter (and made two wide open 3s). He has a team-high 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting in 32 minutes.

Through three quarters, Boston has led wire to wire. New York is hanging around, though, and we know what happened in the opener. Will this be different?

[May 7, 2025 at 8:36 pm ET · James Herbert]

A spectacular offensive foul

You're going to want to see OG Anunoby take flight for this dunk over Derrick White in transition:

Unfortunately for Anunoby and Knicks, this dunk was not worth two points. It was worth zero points, as it was an offensive foul on. Anunoby. White had position.

Even more unfortunate for them: Boston has gone on an 11-2 run since that play. With 4:36 left in the third quarter, the Celtics are up 68-50. This is their biggest lead of the game.

This Luke Kornet dunk counted, by the way:

[May 7, 2025 at 8:29 pm ET · James Herbert]

Tatum is alive

After a quiet first half from a scoring perspective, Jayson Tatum scored on consecutive possessions early in the third quarter. First, he targeted Karl-Anthony Towns in a pick-and-roll and nailed a pull-up 3. Then, he targeted Towns again and got all the way to the rim for a dunk:

A couple of possessions later, Tatum did the same thing but missed a layup. He has seven points on 3-for-11 shooting, 10 rebounds, two assists and a steal in 25 minutes. 

With 8:35 left in the third, the Celtics are up 57-47. Towns has made a couple of long 2s in the third quarter, but he also had a costly turnover that led directly to a Jrue Holiday layup.

[May 7, 2025 at 8:09 pm ET · James Herbert]

Halftime: Celtics 50, Knicks 41

New York trailed by 11 at the end of the first quarter and Boston's lead was as high as 16 in the second. The Knicks went on an 11-3 run near the end of the half, though, so they're in a decent spot, considering how inefficient they've been.

Not a ton of flow to this game, honestly. Extremely physical. Jalen Brunson and Jayson Tatum have both had difficulty getting anything going, in large part because of the amount of contact they're dealing with when they put the ball on the floor.

The Celtics are missing lots of open 3s again — they're 5 for 21 from deep — but they've drawn more fouls than the Knicks and they're winning the rebounding battle. They should feel good about being up by nine points despite Tatum having only two points on 1-for-7 shooting.

[May 7, 2025 at 7:58 pm ET · James Herbert]

Celtics make a push

Nice stat line for Jaylen Brown so far: 16 points (7-14 FG, 1-4 3PT, 1-2 FT), six rebounds, one assist, two steals in 18 minutes.

In this one clip, you'll see him record a steal, a rebound and a 3:

With 2:55 left in the first half, the Celtics are up 46-30. They're on a 9-0 run, thanks to an and-1 from Brown, three free throws from Derrick White -- Josh Hart fouled him on a 3 -- and this wiiide-open transition 3 from White:

White has 14 points (4-7 FG, 3-5 FT, 3-3 FT), four rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 18 minutes.

[May 7, 2025 at 7:48 pm ET · James Herbert]

KAT attack!

Early in the second quarter, Karl-Anthony Towns really took it to Al Horford. Remember when they were teammates on the Dominican Republic national team?

With two and-1s in the post and then a driving layup, Towns went on a personal 8-0 run. 

It hasn't all been great for KAT, though:

With 7:30 left in the first half, the Celtics are up 30-23. New York's energy on defense has picked up, and Boston's offense has gone a bit sideways.

This wasn't the greatest shot selection, for example:

A potential concern for the Celtics: Kristaps Porzingis, who came off the bench after leaving Game 1 due to a mystery illness, did not have a particularly encouraging six-minute stint.

[May 7, 2025 at 7:35 pm ET · James Herbert]

End of first quarter: Celtics 24, Knicks 13

Leading up to this game, I wrote about how the Knicks' defense wasn't sustainable. Maybe I should have written about their offense instead. Right now, they're scoring 56.5 points per 100 possessions. Yikes!

This was a nice play by Jalen Brunson late in the quarter, though:

Brunson has two points on 1-for-6 shooting. I assume that will improve. 

This was the Knicks' lowest-scoring first quarter in a playoff game since 2003, by the way. 

[May 7, 2025 at 7:27 pm ET · James Herbert]

Tough start for Knicks

With 2:39 left in the first quarter, the Celtics are up 19-9. They started the game on a 16-4 run.

New York is shooting 4 for 18 (22.2%) from the field and Jalen Brunson has missed all four of his shot attempts. Until Karl-Anthony Towns scored over a double-team about five minutes into the game, the only shot the Knicks had made -- a stepback 3 by OG Anunoby -- didn't count because a replay review showed that it was released after the shot clock expired.

Here's an and-1 from Jaylen Brown against Josh Hart:

And here's a Derrick White 3 in transition:

Also: Shoutout to Jrue Holiday for repeatedly leaking out and sealing Brunson under the rim in transition. 

It's looking good for Boston. The way Game 1 went, though, maybe the Knicks have the Celtics right where they want them!

[May 7, 2025 at 6:49 pm ET · Stephen Pianovich]

Porzingis available, but Horford will start

Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis is available to play tonight after missing most of Game 1 with an illness. Porzingis, however, is not in Boston's starting lineup. Al Horford gets the nod from Joe Mazzulla alongside Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday.

Kristaps Porzingis update: Celtics star to play in Game 2 vs. Knicks after leaving series opener with illness

Jack Maloney

[May 7, 2025 at 6:46 pm ET · Stephen Pianovich]

Knicks defense playing with fire

If Knicks' defense keeps playing with fire vs. Celtics, they'll go up in flames before NBA playoffs are over

James Herbert