New York – New York Knicks reached the final of the Eastern Conference for the first time in 25 years and ended the reign of the one -year NBA title of the Boston Celtics with astonishing facility, reaching a 119-81 victory in match 6 Friday evening.
Jalen Brunson and Og Anunoby each scored 23 points for the Knicks, who will face the Indiana Pacers, the same team they met during their last appearance in the conference final in 2000. Match 1 was Wednesday evening in New York.
The Knicks had not won as an eliminatory series on their home floor since the East 1999 final. Thus, the celebration started late in the first unilateral half inside the Madison Square Garden and was sure to continue deeply in the night around the arena.
Mikal Bridges scored 22 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 for the Knicks, whose 38-point margin of victory was the most important in an post-season match.
Jaylen Brown scored 20 points for the Celtics before encouraging 2:50 to play in the third quarter, the second first in a play in the playoff series that a player picked up his sixth personal fault in the game by play (since 1997-98), by Elias Sports Bureau.
Boston lost the top scorer Jayson Tatum in an Achilles tendon broke in match 4, but thought he was still enough to bring him back to Boston for match 7 and maintain his defense of the title alive.
It was quickly clear that it did not happen.
The Celtics led by at least 14 points in each of the first five games, but this time, the Knicks started quickly and continued to pour it until the coach of Boston Joe Mazzulla begins to pull his runners in the third quarter after the deficit reached 41 points.
The Knicks scored the first seven points of the second quarter to make 33-20. New York opened it with a 13-3 race which made 49-27, a overvoltage highlighted by the 6-foot hunting block 1 inch of 6 feet 1 inch of Derrick White which led to the second consecutive basket of Josh Hart while being dirty.
Ben Stiller and Lenny Kravitz shared a handshake and a hug later along Celebrity Row, where the A-visons stood and applauded a large part of the night, like fans sitting near the top of the arena.
The Knicks led 64-37 at halftime, a 27-point lead that equaled their greatest in an eliminatory match in the shooting era. They led Lakers 69-42 in match 7 of the 1970 NBA final, when Willis Reed’s return from injury sparked the Knicks in their first title of the NBA.
There were still three years later, but the Knicks were excluded since and it did not seem to be the year that could end after the Knicks were combined 0-8 against Cleveland and Boston, the two teams that finished above them.
But the Knicks will not have to worry about the riders and completely turned things against the Celtics, overcoming the 20 -point deficits in the second half of the two Boston games to open the series.
Hart finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for the Knicks.
The defeat of 38 points was the largest of a reigning champion faced with the elimination of the history of the NBA in the playoffs. He was also tied for the third defeat of the Celtics in an eliminatory match in the history of the franchise.
The information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
