– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
BOSTON — The best thing about rivalries — let alone the longest-standing rivalry in the National Basketball Association and one that’s existed for nigh four score — is that the more we think we know, the more it’s assured that we know nothing at all. Unbeknownst to everyone else not wearing orange and blue, the New York Knicks were supposed to be cannon fodder starting Monday night at the hands of the defending NBA champions … and for almost three quarters, all went according to script.
Instead, the Knickerbockers fired the biggest salvo of these NBA Playoffs to date, throwing what we know (and assume) about the Boston Celtics’ seemingly inexorable passage to the conference finals at the moment into absolute chaos.
Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby each scored 29 points as the Knicks turned a 20-point third-quarter deficit into a stunning 108-105 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics in the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals series inside TD Garden. New York sealed the victory, almost fittingly, when Mikal Bridges ripped the ball from Jaylen Brown’s hands before the latter got off a last-second three-point attempt to tie, setting off wild celebrations on the Knicks’ bench and reducing one of the most raucous arenas on the league into stunned silence.
Well, except for the boisterous Knick fan contingent, of course, many of whom are assuredly in as much disbelief as any that New York achieved 1-0 series lead and in the manner that they achieved it. It was the first game New York has won against the Celtics in five attempts in the regular season and postseason combined.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Monday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 24 pictures in total.
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
