Heading into Wednesday’s game two in Boston, no team in NBA playoff history had ever erased 20-point deficits in back-to-back games and came away with two wins.
The Knicks changed that with another epic comeback, and they did it on the road, against the defending NBA champions and 61-win Celtics, considered the trendy favorite to repeat as Eastern Conference champs.
Down 20 to Boston with the Celtics on the prowl to even the series, New York once again battled back in the second half while the defending champs built another brick wall with a load of missed 3-pointers, and when it was all said and done, Mikal Bridges stepped up with another big takeaway on the final possession, preventing Boston from getting up a final shot.
After snatching the ball from Jaylen Brown’s grasp in the final seconds of overtime in game one, Bridges this time blocked a last-dash pass attempt from Jayson Tatum in the closing seconds of game two, and hurled the ball high in the air down the court to allow the final seconds to melt off the clock while the Knicks broke out in another celebration in front of a stunned Boston crowd.
For the Knicks, they are the first team in the last 25 years to win consecutive road games when trailing by 20 points or more, including regular season and playoff competition.
It was a 20-point deficit with 2:15 to go in the third quarter, and that’s when Bridges came alive after a quiet start, scoring all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter, while Jalen Brunson once again came up with big shots down the stretch, giving the team its first lead of the game with an elbow jumper with just over two minutes left in the game, then gave New York the lead back in the closing seconds with a pair of free throws.
The latest bout of heroics has the Knicks heading back to what will be a frenzied Madison Square Garden for game three on Saturday, where New York will have a chance to take a stranglehold on a series that many gave them no shot to win.