Trailing by 20 points midway through the third quarter, the Knicks found a way to fight back and come away with a dramatic 108-105 overtime win in Game 1 against the Boston Celtics.
While the improbable road win has given New York an early lead in the series, there is a prevailing thought that the Celtics simply had an off night, as evidenced by their abysmal 15-of-60 (25 percent) three-point shooting and Kristaps Porzingis playing just 13 minutes.
Will Boston have another game in which they miss 45 shots from beyond the arc? It’s safe to say that’s highly unlikely, but as Josh Hart said on Tuesday, the Knicks deserve credit for the way that they executed on the defensive end.
Plus, it’s not like the Knicks played at the top of their game either, yet they found a way to win.
“It’s twofold, right? I don’t think we played our best basketball. We got outrebounded by 10, we gave up 24 second-chance points, we gave up some easy fastbreak dunks that we shouldn’t have,” Hart said.
“When a team isn’t playing well it’s ‘why are they not playing well?’ Is it because they’re just off that day, or is it because the defense or the other team is playing well and forcing them into playing that kind of style?”
To illustrate his point, Hart brought up how the Detroit Pistons were able to disrupt the Knicks and keep them from playing their best game in any of the six contests from their first round matchup.
“We’ve got to give Detroit credit, because Detroit did not allow us to play our best game. Fortunately for us, we were able to win that series without playing our best game in any game that whole series,” said Hart, who scored 14 points and added 11 rebounds over 45 minutes in Game 1 in Boston.
“Obviously, [the Celtics] had some shots that they didn’t make that were makeable shots for them, but I feel like we executed our game plan,” Hart said. “We played with physicality and energy. We flew around.”
But now the Knicks face a new challenge heading Wednesday’s Game 2: the proverbial post-big-win hangover.
Tom Thibodeau’s squad may have been on the winning end of one of the more dramatic comebacks in recent playoff history on Monday night, but the head coach knows the key is moving on and being prepared for what comes next.
“That’s the challenge for everybody. I think in the playoffs, that’s sort of the nature of the beast,” Thibodeau explained. “It’s very emotional, there are great highs, there are lows. You have to navigate both, and no matter what happens, you don’t carry it over into the next game. You have to reset and be ready to do it all over again.”
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