While the Knicks were in the process of erasing a 25-point deficit on Thursday night, the Celtics couldn't hear themselves think on the other end of the floor.
The Madison Square Garden cheers grew louder and louder as Boston's lead shriveled in the second half, to the point where Boston's Rob Williams told reporters after the game that the team couldn't hear head coach Ime Udoka in the timeout huddles.
"It's guys getting rattled when it's not the end of the world," Williams said after the Knicks finished off an incredible comeback with a buzzer beater 3-pointer by RJ Barrett. "You still got a 12-point lead and you gotta end that run. You got to know time and score."
The Celtics were never able to stop the bleeding, as New York outscored Boston by 19 in the second half, marking the fourth time the C's have coughed up a lead of at least 19 points this season.
"We get rattled a lot, especially when we're facing adversity," said Williams. "We just have to find it in ourselves, the grit and the fight, to just come together when something's not going our way."
The disaster at The Garden lead Udoka to say that his team lacks mental toughness, and the response from the home crowd didn't seem to help the team in its quest to stabilize itself as the Knicks stormed back.
"I feel like he's 100 percent right, to be honest," Williams of Udoka's comments. "We get rattled a lot, especially when we're facing adversity. We've got to find in ourselves the fight to just come together."
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
