There are so many factors that make Thursday’s showdown between the Knicks and Celtics at Madison Square Garden bigger than just a regular-season game.
For starters, it will be the first time the Knicks face Jayson Tatum this year. It will mark Tatum’s 16th game back since his remarkably quick recovery from a ruptured Achilles.
If the Knicks lose, it will end their pursuit of the No. 2 seed in the East. They are still trying to stave off the Cavaliers from overtaking them for the No. 3 seed, too.
And it very well could be the final preview of a likely playoff rematch. If the teams finish as the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds, they will be on a collision course to meet in the second round — just like last year — as long as they take care of business in the first round.
“I’m a big believer in taking care of the present and then I’ll take care of the future,” Karl-Anthony Towns said after practice Wednesday. “Right now, we just gotta stay in the present. [Thursday] is the most important game because it’s the next game of the season.”
Jaylen Brown (who is questionable for Thursday’s game with left Achilles tendinitis), a near lock to make All-NBA First Team, has helped carry the Celtics in what most thought would be a transition year — with Tatum sidelined for most of it and after Boston parted with several veterans in the offseason.
Now he has his co-star back, even if Tatum has looked a bit rusty. The Celtics are 13-2 in the 15 games Tatum has played since returning. When both are clicking, they are as good a 1-2 punch as any in the league. And it’s a duo that the Knicks and president Leon Rose had in mind when constructing the roster, pairing OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges as wing defenders to guard them.
“Both those guys are capable of erupting for 40 on any given night,” coach Mike Brown said Wednesday. “They take the load off of each other when it comes to scoring, which makes them extremely dangerous. That’s probably the biggest thing.”
It’s meaningful for Tatum: MSG is where he suffered the injury during Game 4 of last year’s series.
“I’m not, like, thrilled to go back and play there,” Tatum said Tuesday. “Last time I played there, obviously, it was a traumatic experience for me.
“Obviously, I knew at some point I would have to get over that hurdle and play there again. So, it’s going to have to be this Thursday. But it’s not like I’m thrilled about it. But it’s part of it.”
The Knicks, for their own part, are happy they’re getting the Celtics at their best.
“To have him on the court, to me it’s an honor to be able to go against one of the best,” Towns said, “and I want to be able to go out there and test my skills against the best.”
Added Bridges: “For him to get back, obviously the time is amazing, how he got it done in a quicker time. But that just shows his work ethic and the people he’s working with and his body, how it can speed up and heal faster than others. Credit to him and his people.”
Mike Brown described Tatum as “a great human being.”
There is a different sentiment with Jaylen Brown, though.
He has emerged as a bit of a Knicks villain, going out of his way to troll them recently.
Before the season, he said, “This year, we gotta listen to insufferable Knicks fans” in a Netflix special, given last year’s playoff result. In October, he claimed Tom Thibodeau revealed secrets to beating the Knicks when he visited the Celtics after his firing. In a December livestream, he said “F–k the Knicks.” This week, he said last year’s elimination “felt like death” and that “this year is a different story.”
He also heaped praise on Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla for the job he’s done with the Celtics this season, proving wrong the majority of preseason expectations for the team.
“If not at the top of the list [for Coach of the Year], he better be close in everybody’s mind, you gotta think about what Joe’s done,” Brown said. “Not just Joe, you gotta think about what Brad [Stevens has] done, putting that team together. He put together a specific group of players, they all have length, they all have toughness, they all have athleticism, they all can, for the most part pass, dribble and shoot. They’re threats out there and they’re relentless with their effort.
“But the head of the snake when it comes to that has to be Joe as head coach. He’s done a whale of a job with that group. Top to bottom, they deserve a lot of awards, in my opinion, going down the stretch. Even their players filling in, nobody’s tried to exceed what their role is. They still stayed within themselves and tried to contribute whatever they could to help the team win. Jaylen Brown did what he did and they’re sitting where they’re sitting because of all those things.”
Knicks-Celtics, given the rivalry, carries extra weight anyway. This meeting, given all it represents, provides even more intrigue.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
