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Jaylen Brown lit up the Knicks with 20 points (8-of-23 FGs), six rebounds, one assist, two steals, two three-pointers and six turnovers in Game 2 on Wednesday.
It was a tale of two halves for Brown, who entered the break with 17 points. In the second half, the only stats he contributed were one three-pointer and four turnovers. He shot 1-of-7 in the second half, and the Celtics blew a 20-point lead for a second straight game. They’ve been outscored by a total of four points in this series, but they will head to New York down 0-2. Brown will need to repeat his first-half performance for Boston to get back on track.
Derrick White led the Celtics with 20 points (6-of-17 FGs), nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks and three three-pointers in Game 2 against the Knicks on Wednesday.
White had a strong night overall, though most of his work was done in the first half. He had 14 of his 20 points and all three of his three-pointers in the first half. White has shot a poor percentage through the first two games of this series, but he has been their best threat from beyond the arc. Boston will need White to be at his best in Game 3 on Saturday to avoid going down 0-3 in the series.
Jayson Tatum struggled with his shot and finished with 13 points (5-of-19 FGs), 14 rebounds, five assists, three steals, one block and one three-pointer in a 91-90 loss to the Knicks in Game 2 on Wednesday.
The positive outlook is that Tatum is averaging 15 rebounds per game in this series and contributing as a playmaker and a defender. The negative (and honest) outlook is that he hasn’t been the dominant scorer that Boston has needed him to be. Though he gave them a late lead with a dunk, he couldn’t get a shot off with a chance to win it on the final play. Now, his team is down 0-2 and will head to New York for Games 3 and 4. If Boston is going to repeat as champions, Tatum is going to have to step up his game.
Kristaps Porzingis came off the bench on Wednesday and finished with eight points (3-of-5 FGs), four rebounds and one three-pointer in Game 2 against the Knicks.
After exiting early from Game 1, Porzingis was made available for Game 2, but he only played a small role off the bench. Al Horford logged 29 minutes as a starter, while Luke Kornet played 18 minutes off the bench. Both bigs played more than Porzingis, who was only on the floor for 14 minutes. He’ll have a few days off before Game 3 on Saturday, which will hopefully be enough time for him to get back to full strength.
Josh Hart led the Knicks with 23 points (9-of-15 FGs), six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and three three-pointers against the Celtics in Game 2 on Wednesday.
Hart’s role for the Knicks is simply to do whatever they need. In this game, they needed him to score more, and he did just that. In a low-scoring affair, Hart led both teams in scoring to help the Knicks go up 2-0 in this series, which will now shift back to New York. Hart played 43 minutes after logging 45 minutes in Game 1 and will continue to play the majority of each game for the rest of New York’s postseason run.
Karl-Anthony Towns recorded a double-double on Wednesday with 21 points (9-of-16 FGs), 17 rebounds, one assist and one block in a 91-90 win over the Celtics in Game 2.
After a quiet performance in Game 1, Towns made a much larger impact on Wednesday to help the Knicks take a commanding 2-0 lead in this series, which will now shift to New York for Games 3 and 4. Head coach Tom Thibodeau utilized a two-center lineup with Towns and Mitchell Robinson for 12:43, and they outscored Boston by 14 points during that stretch. We’ll see if Thibs continues to utilize a taller lineup moving forward, especially if Kristaps Porzingis continues to battle this illness.