NEW YORK CITY – Friday night the Knicks celebrated a birthday to one of their most beloved players, Walt Frazier. Frazier whose retired number hangs from the rafters, was honored with a video montage and it was announced that Madison Square Garden would be sending him on an all expense paid vacation. The Knicks hoped to follow up with a birthday gift of their own, by delivering a win against 8th seeded Boston. New York came up short, losing 96-92 to the Celtics. However, their loss did not come on a lack of effort as we’ve been accustomed to seeing this season.
The Knicks outscored Boston in the 1st, 3rd and 4th quarters, yet still came out on the losing side. The deciding factor in this game, turned out to be the large amount of free throws the Knicks allowed the Celtics to shoot. Boston got to the free throw line 43 times and shot 79%. When you spot a team 34 points, it’s going to be very hard to win the game. Especially when you are a team like New York, that struggles to score. New York had not reached 50 1st half points in the previous 8 games. Friday night, the Knicks only had 39 points to finish the 1st half.
The Celtics had 5 of its players score in double figures, led by Isaiah Thomas with 18 points and Jae Crowder with 17 points. Crowder was one rebound shy of a double double (17 points, 9 rebounds). Following right behind him was Brandon Bass who did finish with a double double (16 points, 10 rebounds). Boston as a team shot 42% from the field, and outrebounded New York 44-36.
New York had 5 players of its own score in double figures, led by Andrea Bargnani with 25 points on 10 of 20 shooting. Shane Larkin had a good game, adding 14 points and 6 assists. He also only committed 1 turnover in 44 minutes of action, which is encouraging to see from the young guard.
New York’s next opponent will be the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. They will look to build on the heart and fight they showed Friday night in Chicago. New York sits with a 14-59 record, and potentially could break the franchise record for worst record in Knickerbocker history with a loss against the Bulls.
Barry Holmes/PureSportsNY