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The New York Knicks retaliated with a deficit of 20 points in the third quarter for the second consecutive match against the Boston Celtics to open a 2-0 series advance in the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference.
Jalen Brunson made two francs of clutch with 12.7 seconds to give to give the Knicks an advance from one point, before Mikal Bridges made another winning flight, this time on Jayson Tatum, to ensure a huge 91-90 victory at TD Garden.
Teams that win the first two games in an eliminatory series on the road go to the next 85.7% of the time, according to Associated Press. The reigning champions are now in danger of being eliminated with the next two games in a noisy garden of Madison Square.
“Two games, we are up 20 points (and) do not end in victories is inexcusable,” the Boston star was the victim of the Bridges flight at the opening of the series, to journalists, told Star Brown. “Obviously, being broken down two, it fears.
“This is an opportunity to show what we are made,” added Brown. “Obviously, we would not want to be in this position, but we are here now, so we have to answer.”
No team in the history of the NBA has pulled more than three points than this version of the Celtics, but it has been their defeat so far in this series, going a 25 of the 100 combined of deeply through matches 1 and 2 – including the lack of 45 triples of the league in terms of eliminatory series.
The Celtics offensive collapsed in the fourth quarter, missing 14 of its last 15 shots which included an incredible series of more than eight minutes without bucket.
It was a remarkable start for the series for a team of Knicks which finished 10 games from Celtics No. 1 and was swept away 4-0 in the games of the regular team season.
Josh Hart finished with a 23-point summit for the Knicks, while Karl-Anthony Towns collected 21 points and 17 rebounds.
Brunson, the clutch player of the year 2024-25, collected 17 points – including the last six of the Knicks match – and seven assists. After shooting 0 for 8 in the first three quarters, Bridges scored his 14 points in the fourth before his crucial flight at the end.
Bridges said after the match that the team “just finds ways to win”.
For the Celtics, Derrick White and Brown have collected 20 points, but it was a difficult evening for Tatum who finished with 13 points out of 5 shots.
Match 3 is at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday.
The Oklahoma City Thunder demolished the Denver Nuggets 149-106 Wednesday to level the series at 1-1.
Oklahoma has set a new NBA qualifying series record for the points scored in half, dropping an 87 amazing in the first half against the Nuggets.
Denver, who dismissed the longtime head coach, Michael Malone, just before the playoffs, seized a victory in match 1 with a three-point end from Aaron Gordon, but match 2 was never even a competition while the Thunder ran to a 24-point lead and in the first quarter.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander collected a 34-point top for the Thunder to go with eight assists and four rebounds, while Chet Holmgren posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The five starters of Thunder, plus three players on the bench, hit the double figures in the rout.
Nikola Jokić, rival of Gilgeous-Alexander for the MVP Prize, only scored 17 points and searched in the third quarter. The triple MVP experienced a historic performance of 42 points and 22 reimburses in match 1.
Match 3 is in Denver on Saturday.
