Celtics crush Knicks 118 - 95

The Celtics started off extremely sluggish in New York on the second night of the first back-to-back of this young 2019-20 NBA season. After scoring the first points of the game, Boston let New York’s RJ Barrett and Julius Randle get physical and comfortable as the Knicks reeled off 11 straight points mid way through the quarter.

Brad Stevens looked to his bench for a lift and Marcus Smart provided a pair of three pointers to get Boston back into the game. Grant Williams, who had an impressive home debut last night joined the fray with a pair of nice assists, one of which was directed to fellow rookie Carsen Edwards which we will likely see more of this season.

Boston clawed back to eventually grab the lead behind some go defensive work. Brad went to his deeper bench with injuries to both Theis and Kanter, as such, Vincent Poirier also made his first appearance of the season. Robert Williams is also get an extended look during this stretch and his teammates like Gordon Hayward have been looking for him consistently, as he provides a threat to score easily at the rim.

Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown were both in the flow in the second quarter. Kemba hitting on a pair of triples and grabbing 5 rebounds to boot, Brown picked up where he left off last night slashing his way to 9 points before half time. Jayson Tatum had a slow start to the game shooting 1-9 from the field but in a sign he is focused on defensive side of the ball this season was a skying block combined with Marcus Smart over Barrett just before half time.

Kemba Walker settled into the third quarter quickly scoring 11 straight points and all signs from this game point to the fact he left his shooting slump in Philadelphia.

Carsen Edwards and Grant Williams both had decent stints in third quarter with Edwards hit on a nifty three in transition and Grant Williams met Portis at the summit to reject the ball and the body. Williams has drawn comparisons to Marcus Smart with the tenacity and heady skills, whatever you think, he is gaining admirers quickly this season.

It was one way traffic in the 4th quarter as the Celtics starters overran the Knicks in the final stanza. Walker (32 pts, 5 rebs and 4 assists) lit up the broadway nets with a little help from his friends Brown (19 pts, 4 rebs) and Tatum (15 pts, 9 rebs) to crush the Knicks at home. Stevens handed the first minutes of the season to our deep bench including Tacko Fall and Javtone Green.