Celtics 131-104 Knicks (8 February 2025) Game Recap

New York-Jayson Tatum scored 40 points and Boston Celtics easily handled New York Knicks for the second time this season and won 131-104 on Saturday night.

Payton Pritchard added 25 points from the bench for Celtics, rebound from their loss to Dallas on Thursday in an NBA final -rematch to win for the fifth time in six games and move 2 1/2 games ahead of Knicks for No. 2 Seeds in it Eastern conference.

Derrick White had 17 and combined with Tatum for all points in a 19-3 spurt in the third quarter that broke open the only time all night it felt like a game. Knicks, which pulled with double digits most of the night, had cut an 18-point deficit to 70-67, but at the time the race was over, Boston led 89-70.

Jalen Brunson scored 36 points for Knicks, who lost for the second time in nine games – both at home for the last two Saturday night on national TV. Josh Hart had 17.

Takeaways

Celtics: With Jue Holiday already out with a shoulder injury and Kristaps Porzingis scratched shortly before the game with a disease, Celtics leaned on Tatum, Pritchard and White, combining in 17 of their 19 3 points.

Knicks: Knicks hoped their offseason movements would help them close the gap with Celtics. But Celtics blasted them away in a 132-109 race on opening evening after bringing their championship banner and New York’s biggest lead against Boston this season is a point.

Keying moment

Knicks missed their first 10 shots while Celtics drove to a 12-2 lead.

Key State

Tatum had 19 points and White 14 in the third quarter. Knicks had 28.

Up next

Celtics visits Miami on Monday night and Knicks is on Indiana on Tuesday night.

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