NBA Matchups: May 7

NYK @ BOS | DEN @ OKC

New York Knicks at Boston Celtics

Team Totals: Knicks 100.5, Celtics 111

Injury Report: Kristaps Porzingis (P, illness), Sam Hauser (D, ankle)

Knicks projected starters: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns

Celtics projected starters: Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis

Offensive Ranks: Knicks 5th, Celtics 3rd
Defensive Ranks: Knicks 12th, Celtics 5th

Season Series: Celtics 4-0 

Noteworthy Missed Games: Kristaps Porzingis (2 missed), Jrue Holiday (1), Al Horford (1), OG Anunoby (1)

Thibs quotes: Said they still have to do a better job at limiting good looks from the Celtics and they should be better on the boards, said OG had so many multiple-effort plays for them, said Hart also had so much effort and his energy was huge for the win, said they have to be better at keeping Holiday off the boards.

Mazzulla quotes: Said they were able to find some good looks but they could get 5-10 of them back, said Anunoby going on that big run in the third hurt them and they left some guys too open, said he didn’t see KP after the game, said he found out during the game about KP’s illness.

Stats and Notes:

*The 3-point line was the story for Game 1 with the Celtics going 15-of-60 (25%) to set a record for the most misses from deep in a playoff game. The Celtics went just 7-of-24 on their wide-open looks from deep and 8-of-29 on C&S shots overall. The Knicks, on the other hand, went 11-of-24 on C&S treys and 8-of-14 on wide-open attempts to get them to 17-of-37 from deep (45.9%). This game was also a major grind overall with New York getting 84.2% of their possessions in the halfcourt, and the Celtics were even slower at 85.4% (league low was 81.9% during the season). The Knicks were able to capitalize on their transition chances at 1.63 PPP despite getting transition possessions on just 7.8% of their total possessions (league low was 12.6%). The Celtics won the battle on the boards and second-chance points 24-20. Boston also had way higher rim volume and the Knicks launched 23 shots in the floater range, making just six of them (26.1% made). It’s wild that Boston lost this game.

*Jalen Brunson was steady in Game 1, while some of the wings performed above expectation to help the Knicks get the win. As expected, it was Jrue Holiday getting that assignment for most of the game with some Derrick White on him as well. Brunson was not able to convert his 22 drives, as he made just 3-of-11 on those for six points (no FTAs). The Celtics likely will let Brunson get his downhill game going as they won’t be helping off much, so it’s still going to be an OK spot for Action Brunson despite the earned reputation from Holiday.

*Karl-Anthony Towns was arguably the worst starter for the Knicks and it’s a pretty easy argument to make. He picked up some foul trouble in both halves and never got into a rhythm on offense. KAT shot 1-of-6 on his drives, and getting just one 3PA up is unacceptable. The Celtics put Jaylen Brown on him a bit as they continue to try to use their bigs elsewhere. Maybe KAT can turn it around, but I don’t like this matchup for him at all.