Winners of five of their last seven games, the Knicks faced another test tonight against division-rival Boston, the second-best defensive team in the NBA. And as if that weren’t enough of a challenge, Derek Fisher’s squad lost Carmelo Anthony to injury and Kristaps Porzingis to foul trouble for most of the second half.
But as adversity mounted, New York continued to battle. The Garden came alive, and the team responded, hanging on for an impressive 120-114 victory to improve to 20-20 on the season.
It was looking like the Knicks might coast to victory after a first quarter in which Anthony and Porzingis combined to score 37 points. New York shot over 51 percent to lead by 10 at the half, but Anthony rolled his ankle right right before the break. He’d start the third quarter, but leave just 19 seconds in and not return. Porzingis would pick up his third and fourth fouls a few minutes later, forcing the rookie to the bench with 22 points.
Fisher needed someone else to step up, and many did; Boston would outscore the Knicks in the third quarter, 32-26, but the Knicks didn’t give in. Arron Afflalo asserted himself offensively, working his way to 10 points in the third quarter. Robin Lopez seemed to have an answer for every Celtics bucket, using hook shots and putbacks to score 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Jerian Grant’s buzzer-beater to end the quarter gave the Knicks an 85-81 advantage heading into the final period.
Grant continued to create, playing the entire quarter en route to 10 of his career-high 16 points. Afflalo kept up his aggressiveness, scoring 10 more in the final period to give him 24 for the game. Porzingis re-entered the game with five fouls and 4 minutes left, promptly hitting a difficult jumper along the baseline, before fouling out with 2 minutes and 44 seconds left.
Without Porzingis (26 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks) or Anthony (17 points in 17 minutes), the Knicks simply refused to quit. Boston’s Jared Sullinger scored 12 points in the fourth, but New York had an answer for every play: a Lopez hook shot, followed by a breakway Derrick Williams dunk, Afflalo fadeaway, and acrobatic running bank shot from Grant sealed the victory.
Williams (15 points, 10 boards) and Grant (16 points, eight assists) connected on the crushing blow, a full-court feed for another powerful flush.
