Baffled and bemused: the defending champion Boston Celtics are in all sorts of trouble.
The Celtics find themselves 2-0 down to the New York Knicks in their Eastern Conference semi-finals after another extraordinary night at TD Garden.
It’d be easy to dismiss Game 1 as a fluke as the Knicks hit back from a deficit of 20 points to win in overtime, but they repeated the feat Wednesday night to head back to the Big Apple in a position even they would not have envisaged.
KAT had himself a game 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ipSzIZ4pry
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) May 8, 2025
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Bridges comes through clutch
Mikal Bridges was the hero, stealing a Jayson Tatum pass in the final seconds to hand the Knicks a 91-90 win as they became the first team in the play-by-play era (dating back to 1996) to come from 20 points down in consecutive playoff games.
“They made every play. I thought we generated some good looks and then I thought we had some live-ball turnovers and they took advantage of it, so they made the necessary plays to win,” said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla.
“We put ourselves in position and we just didn’t make the plays.”
Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis was aghast at what had played out.
“I don’t have the answer honestly, I don’t have the answer,” he said. “Just a little bit of execution here and there. There’s a couple missed shots here and there. A couple things go their way and it just adds up and it’s this result.”
We’re always gonna find a way – Bridges
New York have led for just 12 minutes across the two games but are now in pole position ahead of Game 3 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon.
Bridges said: “I think we’re just confident, confident knowing we’re just always gonna find a way.
“A lot of us sit on the bench while we’re down just like, ‘We’ve been here before, pretty sure we’re gonna win this game.’”
Jalen Brunson added: “Going home we know the opportunity we have.
“We have to make sure we’re locked in. Making sure our mindset is the same.”
