Few have much faith in the Knicks’ ability to compete with the Celtics, but the Magic just surprised many last week and sparked a new rivalry. Can New York do the same?
There will be many differences between the Celtics’ first and second round series against the Magic and Knicks. The games will turn from rock fights to shootouts, shift from near nightly scuffles toward few tensions and travel between the two cities will be reduced.
That last factor will become the most interesting. The two most rambunctious bases in the league alongside Lakers fans will create a unique atmosphere starting on Monday. Celtics’ fans didn’t let distance stop them from invading opposing arenas all year. That’ll prove more difficult at Madison Square Garden. Knicks’ fans will try to make the trip to Boston. Can the Celtics’ fans stave them off?
It’s less clear if the basketball will meet the moment. Boston swept the Knicks, 4-0, in the regular season, and while the Celtics tried to downplay that in previewing how challenging New York will be — few C’s weaknesses show.
“I love playing there on the road,” former Knick Kristaps Porziņģis said on Saturday. “My first couple games were pretty crazy there, getting booed and stuff. But I think now, time has passed and it’s not as recent anymore, and changed a couple of teams already also.”
“You’re making it seem like we’re gonna get caught off guard like a deer,” he continued, smiling. “It comes with experience. I can ask the same thing. They’re gonna have to come here to Boston, and experience this. Maybe ask them this question … of course, it’s gonna be a big stage … it’s gonna be fun.”
The Celtics’ previous series will be tough to beat. They trailed at halftime in Game 1. Tensions flared at the start of Game 2. Al Horford and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope facing off before Kristaps Porziņģis’ comeback from the gash in his forehead with bloodstains on the back of his head and a giant bandage brought back the fan in me.
The Magic won Game 3. Porziņģis and Jayson Tatum delivered Game 4 against heavy resistance. No team over the past two seasons defended the Celtics better — taking away their threes, knocking Boston around and defending straight-up — a tall task that they met with fervor.
“They’re a really good team,” Pritchard told CLNS Media after the series. “Very physical. It was a physical challenge … they’re probably the best team, defensively, we’ve seen at guarding the ball.”
Several Celtics, including Porziņģis, sounded happy to just get out of that series. It’s easy to understand why. Jaylen Brown dislocated his left index finger when Cole Anthony fouled him hard in Game 3, leading Brown to practically drop his gloves post-game. Horford challenged Wendell Carter Jr. after his hard foul on Derrick White two nights later, and even Tatum and Jamahl Mosley got into it during the skirmish. Later, Tatum whispered something to Caldwell-Pope, who shoved him.
The series brought some refreshing nastiness and edge out of Tatum, who shook off his wrist injury to average 36 points through the final three games of the series. He drove downhill repeatedly, reached the free throw line 10.3 times per game and hit 37-of-41. Before the series, he sidestepped the Paolo Banchero friendship narrative and said it wouldn’t change their dynamic in the series.
“He’s trying to lead his team in a playoff series and figure out ways to win, and I’m trying to do the same thing,” Tatum said. “Just having an understanding of ‘no friends out there.’ Nothing else matters except doing everything I can to help my team win, and it’s not really time for anything else.”
Watching Banchero try to carry his Magic team by hitting difficult jump shot after jump shot while Boston dared him to beat them became a joy for even Celtics fans. Banchero earned their respect by scoring 29.4 points per game and keeping most of the series close in his minutes. Orlando capsized after his fifth foul in the third quarter in Game 5, a devastating moment for him that could spark his own villain arc. The rest of the starting lineup received showers of boos during starting introductions on that night. Anthony, Carter, Mosley and Caldwell-Pope had no problem fouling hard. It’s who we are, they said.
Caldwell-Pope took time after Game 1 to address his foul with CLNS. Banchero gave three extra answers after his pre-game sessions about his experience facing the Celtics, acknowledging the exhausting nature of his role while embracing it. Carter smiled at the thought of his exchange with Horford, who he grew up watching in Atlanta and thrived in the series as a defender and enforcer. So did Mosley over his dust-up with Tatum, who he knew from Team USA and other camps. Mosley handled physicality questions well all series, and thanked reporters for their time throughout. Frankly, it was a cool team to cover.
On the sideline, impact players Jalen Suggs and Moe Wagner stood by injured, reminders of how much more difficult this matchup could prove in the future. That series laid the groundwork of a rivalry.
“Shoutout to Orlando,” Brown said. “They did a good job competing. They’re a good young team. Nothing negative to say whatsoever.”
The next series won’t look the same, and despite the Boston-New York spectacle and energy, these teams don’t share much history. The Magic entered round one driven by a past Eddie House slight, playing the Celtics tough going back several seasons and even Wagner’s release from Boston.
Tom Thibodeau last coached the Celtics in 2010. Porziņģis left New York six years ago. Knicks fans might boo him. Celtics fans might borrow the flopper line for Jalen Brunson from Detroit. You never know when tensions could rise, and while Joe Mazzulla expects a physical series, the Knicks don’t foul like the Magic, committing the fourth-fewest in the NBA. New York’s defense is hardly rugged, and the team that narrowly missed an Eastern Conference Finals meeting with the Celtics last spring before injuries struck mostly disbanded.
The greatest relief will come for the Celtics’ struggling role players. Payton Pritchard and the bench became resigned to having fewer opportunities last round while Orlando switched. This is a Jrue Holiday series if he’s available on Monday. Tatum thrived. Porziņģis tortured his former team. And no one sounded more ready to turn the page to round two.
“Every series is going to be different,” Porziņģis said last round. “Some series, they take away this and we have more opportunities here, and this is this type of series. It’s not high-scoring games. It’s just real muddy … and they just make the game slow for us, around 100 points, so they can always be right there. We just have to keep trying to play our way.”
Prepare for more of Boston’s way in Round Two: New York double-teams creating kick-outs; Porziņģis pick-and-pops; Tatum side-stepping around screens to pull up into threes over the drop. The New York backdrop is fun, sunny days will draw everyone outside; the dinners will be amazing, the noise in the building will be real and the fans will puff their chest when either side wins. But it’s unclear if the Knicks will.
This one could be a sweep.