Game ID: 42400211
New York Knicks @ Boston Celtics
Monday, May 5, 2025 at 7:00 PM ET
TD Garden, Boston, MA
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT1 Final
BOS 26 35 23 16 5 105NYK 25 20 30 25 8 108
BOS vs NYK ScoutingBOS vs NYK Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
BOS availability going into 4/23 · 2 days' restBACK Brown back 4/20 after 3, 30 min since (88% of 35)
BACK Horford back 4/11 after 2, 26 min since (93% of 28)
BACK Norris back 4/09 after 16, 15 min since (133% of 12)
NEW Queta 13 to 21 min over the last 3
NEW Scheierman 12 to 27 min over the last 3
NEW Craig 10 to 15 min over the last 4
BOS availability going into 4/25 · 1 day's restOUT Queta missed 2 since 4/20, out tonight
OUT Scheierman missed 2 since 4/20, out tonight
BACK Brown back 4/20 after 3, 36 min since (104% of 35)
BACK Horford back 4/11 after 2, 28 min since (100% of 28)
BACK Norris back 4/09 after 16, 15 min since (133% of 12)
NEW Craig 10 to 15 min over the last 4
BOS availability going into 4/27 · 1 day's restOUT Queta missed 3 since 4/20, out tonight
OUT Scheierman missed 3 since 4/20, out tonight
OUT Craig missed 2 since 4/23, out tonight
BACK Brown back 4/20 after 3, 35 min since (102% of 35)
BACK Horford back 4/11 after 2, 30 min since (106% of 28)
BOS availability going into 4/29 · 1 day's restOUT Holiday missed 2 since 4/25, out tonight
OUT Queta missed 4 since 4/20, returns tonight: 4 min (29% of 13)
OUT Scheierman missed 4 since 4/20, returns tonight: 4 min (33% of 12)
OUT Craig missed 3 since 4/23, returns tonight: 4 min (44% of 10)
BACK Brown back 4/20 after 3, 37 min since (106% of 35)
BOS availability going into 5/05 · 5 days' restOUT Holiday missed 3 since 4/25, returns tonight: 39 min (126% of 31)
BACK Brown back 4/20 after 3, 36 min since (103% of 35)
BACK Queta back 4/29 after 4, 4 min since (29% of 13)
BACK Scheierman back 4/29 after 4, 4 min since (33% of 12)
BACK Craig back 4/29 after 3, 4 min since (44% of 10)
BOS availability going into 5/07 · 1 day's restBACK Holiday back 5/05 after 3, 39 min since (126% of 31)
BACK Queta back 4/29 after 4, 4 min since (29% of 13)
BACK Scheierman back 4/29 after 4, 4 min since (33% of 12)
BACK Craig back 4/29 after 3, 4 min since (44% of 10)
NEW Horford 28 to 34 min over the last 5
BOS availability going into 5/10 · 2 days' restOUT Queta missed 2 since 5/05, returns tonight: 2 min (16% of 13)
OUT Scheierman missed 2 since 5/05, returns tonight: 2 min (18% of 12)
OUT Craig missed 2 since 5/05, returns tonight: 2 min (21% of 10)
BACK Holiday back 5/05 after 3, 36 min since (118% of 31)
NEW Horford 28 to 33 min over the last 5
BOS availability going into 5/12 · 1 day's restOUT Hauser missed 2 since 5/07, out tonight
BACK Holiday back 5/05 after 3, 33 min since (106% of 31)
BACK Queta back 4/29 after 4, 3 min since (22% of 13)
BACK Scheierman back 4/29 after 4, 3 min since (25% of 12)
BACK Craig back 4/29 after 3, 3 min since (32% of 10)
NEW Horford 28 to 33 min over the last 5
BOS availability going into 5/14 · 1 day's restOUT Hauser missed 3 since 5/07, returns tonight: 15 min (71% of 21)
BACK Holiday back 5/05 after 3, 33 min since (107% of 31)
BACK Queta back 4/29 after 4, 3 min since (22% of 13)
BACK Scheierman back 4/29 after 4, 3 min since (25% of 12)
BACK Craig back 4/29 after 3, 3 min since (32% of 10)
NEW Horford 28 to 34 min over the last 5
NYK availability going into 4/24 · 2 days' restOUT Achiuwa missed 2 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Tucker missed 2 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Wright missed 2 since 4/19, out tonight
BACK Towns back 4/19 after 2, 36 min since (104% of 35)
NYK availability going into 4/27 · 2 days' restOUT Achiuwa missed 3 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Tucker missed 3 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Wright missed 3 since 4/19, out tonight
BACK Towns back 4/19 after 2, 38 min since (108% of 35)
NYK availability going into 4/29 · 1 day's restOUT Achiuwa missed 4 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Tucker missed 4 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Wright missed 4 since 4/19, out tonight
BACK Towns back 4/19 after 2, 39 min since (110% of 35)
NYK availability going into 5/01 · 1 day's restOUT Achiuwa missed 5 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Tucker missed 5 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Wright missed 5 since 4/19, out tonight
BACK Towns back 4/19 after 2, 38 min since (108% of 35)
NYK availability going into 5/05 · 3 days' restOUT Achiuwa missed 6 since 4/19, returns tonight: 5 min (28% of 18)
OUT Tucker missed 6 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Wright missed 6 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Shamet missed 2 since 4/29, out tonight
NYK availability going into 5/07 · 1 day's restOUT Tucker missed 7 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Wright missed 7 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Shamet missed 3 since 4/29, out tonight
BACK Achiuwa back 5/05 after 6, 5 min since (28% of 18)
NEW Bridges 37 to 43 min over the last 5
NEW Anunoby 37 to 42 min over the last 5
NYK availability going into 5/10 · 2 days' restOUT Tucker missed 8 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Wright missed 8 since 4/19, returns tonight: 3 min (22% of 14)
OUT Shamet missed 4 since 4/29, returns tonight: 3 min (22% of 14)
BACK Achiuwa back 5/05 after 6, 5 min since (28% of 18)
NEW Bridges 37 to 44 min over the last 5
NYK availability going into 5/12 · 1 day's restOUT Tucker missed 9 since 4/19, out tonight
BACK Achiuwa back 5/05 after 6, 6 min since (30% of 18)
BACK Wright back 5/10 after 8, 3 min since (22% of 14)
BACK Shamet back 5/10 after 4, 3 min since (22% of 14)
NEW Bridges 37 to 43 min over the last 5
NYK availability going into 5/14 · 1 day's restOUT Tucker missed 10 since 4/19, out tonight
BACK Achiuwa back 5/05 after 6, 4 min since (21% of 18)
BACK Wright back 5/10 after 8, 3 min since (22% of 14)
BACK Shamet back 5/10 after 4, 3 min since (22% of 14)
NEW Bridges 37 to 44 min over the last 5
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Boston comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 94, shooting 47 percent and 38 from three, 26 free throws a game; Tatum at 31 and Brown at 23 a game. Without Holiday (3 straight). 5 days' rest. New York comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 105 a night and allowing 106, shooting 43 percent and 36 from three, 25 free throws a game; Brunson at 31 and Towns at 19 a game. It has lost the glass by 4 a night. Without Achiuwa (6 straight), Tucker (6 straight). 3 days' rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the defense, Boston allowing 94 a night to New York's 106 and the glass, where Boston has been plus-2 a night and New York minus-4. Call it Boston 111, New York 104.
4/23 vs ORL 109-100 — BOS notes
BOS won 109-100. BOS shot 45% (36 of 80) to ORL's 48%, 12 of 37 from three, and went to the line 33 times to ORL's 24 — 25 points from the stripe to their 15. The glass went 46-34 for them. Brown led with 36 (12 of 19, 5 of 7 from three, 7 of 8 at the line); Porziņģis added 20, White 17. The hinge was Q3, 31-24: a lead of 3 became 10, and the lead reached 15. Porziņģis was the night's best plus/minus at +15.
4/25 @ ORL 93-95 — BOS notes
BOS lost 93-95. BOS shot 45% (33 of 74) to ORL's 41%, 9 of 27 from three. BOS turned it over 19 times to ORL's 13, and ORL turned those into 9 steals. Tatum led with 36 (10 of 22, 4 of 10 from three, 12 of 12 at the line); Brown added 19, White 16. Q2 was theirs, 32-18, turning a 4-point deficit into a 10-point lead, but the other 3 periods went 77-61 against them. They led by as many as 11. Porziņģis's -16 in 34 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/27 @ ORL 107-98 — BOS notes
BOS won 107-98. BOS shot 44% (34 of 78) to ORL's 43%, 9 of 31 from three, and went to the line 32 times to ORL's 20 — 30 points from the stripe to their 14. Tatum led with 37 (10 of 25, 3 of 10 from three, 14 of 14 at the line); Brown added 21, Porziņģis 19. The hinge was Q4, 28-23: a lead of 4 became 9. Hauser was the night's best plus/minus at +13.
4/29 vs ORL 120-89 — BOS notes
BOS won 120-89. BOS shot 57% (43 of 76) to ORL's 38%, 13 of 24 from three. Tatum led with 35 (10 of 16, 4 of 5 from three, 11 of 11 at the line); Brown added 23, Pritchard 10. The hinge was Q3, 36-13: BOS came in trailing by 2 and left it ahead by 21, and the lead reached 34. BOS trailed 47-49 at the half and won the second half 73-40. Tatum was the night's best plus/minus at +34.
5/05 vs NYK 105-108 — BOS notes
BOS lost 105-108 in 1 overtime. BOS took 10 more shots (97 to 87), fed by 19 offensive rebounds, but shot 35% to NYK's 43%, 15 of 60 from three. The glass went 59-49 for them. Brown led with 23 (7 of 20, 1 of 10 from three, 8 of 10 at the line); Tatum added 23, White 19. Q2 was theirs, 35-20, but the other 4 periods went 88-70 against them. They led by as many as 20. Kornet's -7 in 17 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/07 vs NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Boston comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 107 a night and allowing 98, shooting 44 percent and 32 from three, 27 free throws a game; Tatum at 33 and Brown at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 4 a night. One day's rest. New York comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 108 a night and allowing 107, shooting 43 percent and 40 from three, 27 free throws a game; Brunson at 29 and Anunoby at 20 a game. Without Tucker (7 straight). One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Boston has been plus-4 a night and New York minus-4 and the arc, New York at 40 percent from three to Boston's 32. Call it Boston 111, New York 106.
5/10 @ NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 102 a night and allowing 101, shooting 43 percent and 38 from three, 23 free throws a game; Brunson at 27 and Towns at 18 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has lost the glass by 4 a night. Without Tucker (8 straight). 2 days' rest. Boston comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 103 a night and allowing 96, shooting 42 percent and 31 from three, 24 free throws a game; Tatum at 29 and Brown at 21 a game. 2 days' rest.
So: Boston wins, on the road, and the game turns on the arc, New York at 38 percent from three to Boston's 31 and the glass, where Boston has been plus-3 a night and New York minus-4. Call it Boston 107, New York 106, New York keeping it close.
5/12 @ NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 102 a night and allowing 106, shooting 43 percent and 34 from three, 27 free throws a game; Brunson at 26 and Towns at 17 a game. Without Tucker (9 straight). One day's rest. Boston comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 107 a night and allowing 96, shooting 43 percent and 34 from three, 23 free throws a game; Tatum at 26 and Brown at 21 a game. Without Hauser (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, on the road, and the game turns on the defense, Boston allowing 96 a night to New York's 106. Call it Boston 109, New York 106, New York keeping it close.
5/14 vs NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Boston comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 100, shooting 44 percent and 36 from three, 22 free throws a game; Tatum at 27 and Brown at 21 a game. Without Hauser (3 straight). One day's rest. New York comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 107, shooting 46 percent and 34 from three, 24 free throws a game; Brunson at 30 and Towns at 18 a game. Without Tucker (10 straight). One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the defense, Boston allowing 100 a night to New York's 107. Call it Boston 112, New York 105.
4/24 @ DET 118-116 — NYK notes
NYK won 118-116. NYK shot 47% (40 of 86) to DET's 45%, 12 of 32 from three. NYK turned it over 9 times to DET's 14. Towns led with 31 (10 of 18, 4 of 8 from three, 7 of 7 at the line); Brunson added 30, Anunoby 22. The hinge was Q2, 33-26: a lead of 6 became 13.
4/27 @ DET 94-93 — NYK notes
NYK won 94-93. NYK shot 37% (34 of 91) to DET's 43%, 15 of 33 from three. NYK turned it over 10 times to DET's 17. The glass went 38-54 against them. Brunson led with 32 (13 of 26, 4 of 7 from three); Towns added 27, Hart 14. The hinge was Q1, 29-19: from level to 10 ahead, and the lead reached 16.
4/29 vs DET 103-106 — NYK notes
NYK lost 103-106. NYK shot 43% (39 of 90) to DET's 42%, 9 of 25 from three, and got to the line 27 times to DET's 36. Anunoby led with 19 (8 of 13, 3 of 4 from three); Bridges added 17, Towns 17. Q1 was theirs, 23-22, but the other 3 periods went 84-80 against them.
5/01 @ DET 116-113 — NYK notes
NYK won 116-113. NYK shot 48% (41 of 86) to DET's 47%, 10 of 30 from three. Brunson led with 40 (15 of 33, 3 of 10 from three, 7 of 8 at the line); Bridges added 25, Anunoby 22. The hinge was Q1, 37-23: from level to 14 ahead. NYK trailed 59-61 at the half and won the second half 57-52.
5/05 @ BOS 108-105 — NYK notes
NYK won 108-105 in 1 overtime. NYK shot 43% (37 of 87) to BOS's 35%, 17 of 37 from three. The glass went 49-59 against them. Anunoby led with 29 (10 of 20, 6 of 11 from three); Brunson added 29, Hart 14. The hinge was Q4, 25-16: NYK came in trailing by 9 and left it level. NYK trailed 45-61 at the half and won the second half 63-44. Robinson was the night's best plus/minus at +13.
5/07 @ BOS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Boston comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 107 a night and allowing 98, shooting 44 percent and 32 from three, 27 free throws a game; Tatum at 33 and Brown at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 4 a night. One day's rest. New York comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 108 a night and allowing 107, shooting 43 percent and 40 from three, 27 free throws a game; Brunson at 29 and Anunoby at 20 a game. Without Tucker (7 straight). One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Boston has been plus-4 a night and New York minus-4 and the arc, New York at 40 percent from three to Boston's 32. Call it Boston 111, New York 106.
5/10 vs BOS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 102 a night and allowing 101, shooting 43 percent and 38 from three, 23 free throws a game; Brunson at 27 and Towns at 18 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has lost the glass by 4 a night. Without Tucker (8 straight). 2 days' rest. Boston comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 103 a night and allowing 96, shooting 42 percent and 31 from three, 24 free throws a game; Tatum at 29 and Brown at 21 a game. 2 days' rest.
So: Boston wins, on the road, and the game turns on the arc, New York at 38 percent from three to Boston's 31 and the glass, where Boston has been plus-3 a night and New York minus-4. Call it Boston 107, New York 106, New York keeping it close.
5/12 vs BOS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 102 a night and allowing 106, shooting 43 percent and 34 from three, 27 free throws a game; Brunson at 26 and Towns at 17 a game. Without Tucker (9 straight). One day's rest. Boston comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 107 a night and allowing 96, shooting 43 percent and 34 from three, 23 free throws a game; Tatum at 26 and Brown at 21 a game. Without Hauser (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, on the road, and the game turns on the defense, Boston allowing 96 a night to New York's 106. Call it Boston 109, New York 106, New York keeping it close.
5/14 @ BOS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Boston comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 100, shooting 44 percent and 36 from three, 22 free throws a game; Tatum at 27 and Brown at 21 a game. Without Hauser (3 straight). One day's rest. New York comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 107, shooting 46 percent and 34 from three, 24 free throws a game; Brunson at 30 and Towns at 18 a game. Without Tucker (10 straight). One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the defense, Boston allowing 100 a night to New York's 107. Call it Boston 112, New York 105.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
BOSAH A. Horford
DW D. White
JB J. Brown
JH J. Holiday
JT J. Tatum
KP K. Porziņģis
LK L. Kornet
PP P. Pritchard
PO Porzingis
SH S. Hauser
NYKCP C. Payne
JB J. Brunson
JH J. Hart
KT K. Towns
MB M. Bridges
MM M. McBride
MR M. Robinson
OA O. Anunoby
PA P. Achiuwa
BOS/NYK the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Knicks come from 20 down, beat Celtics 108-105 in OT as Bridges' steal preserves Game 1 win
BOSTON -- — The Knicks grew accustomed to facing big deficits against the Celtics this season.
New York faced another one to open its Eastern Conference semifinal matchup against the defending NBA champions. This time, the Knicks found a way to overcome it.
Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby each scored 29 points before Mikal Bridges stole the ball from Jaylen Brown with a second left in overtime, and the Knicks stunned Boston 108-105 in Game 1 of their series on Monday night.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 14 points and 13 rebounds for New York, which lost all four games against its longtime rival during the regular season and trailed by 20 points in the second half of this game.
“We told each other just keep believing. Just keep fighting and sticking together, and keep chipping away. There wasn’t going to be a 20-point shot," Brunson said.
Jayson Tatum and Brown both had 23 points for the Celtics, who had an NBA playoff-record 45 missed 3-pointers to blow a game they appeared to have in control. Derrick White added 19 points and 11 rebounds.
“In those spots where they have momentum, we can’t just fire up 3s," Brown said. "I felt like we just settled in the second half a lot.”
Jrue Holiday returned to the starting lineup after a strained right hamstring caused him to miss the final three games of Boston’s first-round series against Orlando. He finished with 16 points in 39 minutes, but center Kristaps Porzingis played only 13 minutes and didn’t return after halftime because of an illness.
Game 2 is Wednesday night.
Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said missing Porzingis impacted the Celtics' approach.
“Obviously it impacts the game with his ability on both ends of the floor,“ Mazzulla said. ”It's no excuse. We had plenty of opportunities. ... Hopefully he's ready for Game 2."
The Knicks struck first in OT, taking a 106-100 edge via a three-point play by Anunoby, followed by 3-pointer by Bridges.
Brown connected on a 3-pointer from the wing with just over a minute left — his only make in 10 attempts behind the arc — to cut it to 108-105.
It stayed that way when Josh Hart misfired on a deep 3. Tatum missed a jumper, but the Celtics were able to retrieve the rebound. After a foul on Towns, Boston called timeout with 3 seconds showing on the clock.
But Bridges ripped the inbounds pass away from Brown to preserve the win.
The Celtics finished 15 for 60 on 3-pointers. Of the 49 shots the Celtics took in the second half and OT, 37 were 3-pointers. They connected on only 10 of them.
Boston led 75-55 midway through the third quarter but New York cut it to 84-75 entering the final period, thanks to a 20-9 run.
The Knicks kept it going, scoring the first eight points of the fourth quarter. They eventually tied it at 86 on a steal and dunk by Anunoby.
Three ties and three lead changes later, New York led 97-95 when the Celtics pushed the ball ahead and swung it to White for a corner 3-pointer to put Boston back in front with 2:15 left. A 3 by Anunoby put New York in front by two, but it was answered on the other end by Holiday's layup to tie it again.
The Knicks had a great look to win it in regulation after Brunson got a give-and-go pass from Towns, but missed a short bank shot that was rebounded by Boston. The Celtics called timeout with 0.6 seconds remaining but Tatum missed a lunging jumper at the buzzer.
Brunson said Monday's win was a good start, but hardly a roadmap to win this series.
“I don’t think there is a blueprint per se," Brunson said. "But as long as we stick together, anything is possible.”