Here are five things to watch out for when the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks meet at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Madison Square Garden.
The Celtics hit 7-of-12 3-point attempts during the first quarter of Sunday night’s matchup against the Orlando Magic. It was the most treys they had made in a first quarter since 2003.
Of course, shooting at such a high percentage will boost a team’s confidence, so the C’s went on to shoot 34 more triples throughout the remainder of the game. The unfortunate part was that Boston made only nine of those attempts, and it went on to lose the game.
Those 46 3-point attempts easily surpassed the previous franchise record of 38, which was established in 2003. It also tied for the most 3-point attempts in an NBA game since the Knicks shot 47 on Dec. 17, 2009.
Boston’s 34.8 percent clip from downtown was somewhat discouraging, but don’t expect that to change its perimeter mentality, especially going up against a New York team that has allowed opponents to shoot 43.3 percent from deep during the last 10 games – the highest mark in the league during that span.
New York’s rookie phenom, Kristaps Porzingis, had his way against Boston on Jan. 12, scoring 26 points on the C’s in just 26 minutes.
Since that game, however, Porzingis has cooled down considerably.
During his last six contests, the 7-foot-3 forward averaged 13.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and shot 36.5 percent from the field.
One factor that has hurt Porzingis is that he was in foul trouble during three of those six contests. That limited him to cracking the 30-minute mark just once during that six-game period, after doing so seven times during his previous nine contests. Porzingis was in a much better rhythm during that span, when he averaged 17.4 PPG, 7.9 RPG, shot 48.0 percent from the field, and was only in foul trouble once.
But keep in mind, he has averaged 21.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2.0 steals during his two games against the C’s this season.
Carmelo Anthony’s scoring rate has also been on the decline lately, having surpassed the 20-point mark just twice during his last seven appearances.
Melo averaged 19.8 points per game during January, which was his lowest scoring output during a month in which he played at least 10 games since March of 2012.
But just because he hasn’t been scoring as much, doesn’t mean he hasn’t been contributing on the offensive end. Anthony dished out 5.2 assists per game in January, which was the highest monthly assist average he’s had during his entire 13-year career.
He dished out at least seven dimes five times last month, and the Knicks were 5-0 during those games. They were 3-9 otherwise.
Boston may be somewhat shorthanded going up against Anthony tonight, as Jae Crowder’s playing status is currently up in the air.
Crowder, who would normally be tasked with covering Melo, bruised his shin during Sunday’s game in Orlando, and sat out of practice on Monday.
His absence would obviously be significant considering Anthony’s elite scoring ability.
The Celtics’ biggest weapon this season has been their ability to force turnovers. It’s quite the opposite for the Knicks.
Boston is forcing a league-high 17.1 turnovers per game. New York, on the other hand, causes just 12.0 turnovers per game, which is tied for the lowest mark in the NBA.
That being said, the teams have been fairly similar in that department when facing each other this season. The C’s forced New York to turn the ball over 24 times during their two matchups this season, while the Knicks have forced Boston to cough the ball up on 19 occasions.
The only difference is, Boston has done a much better job of capitalizing off of New York’s mistakes, having outscored it 34-14 in points off of turnovers.
