Game ID: 42400214
Boston Celtics @ New York Knicks
Monday, May 12, 2025 at 7:30 PM ET
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
NYK 28 23 37 33 121BOS 39 23 23 28 113
BOS @ NYK ScoutingBOS @ 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.
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
NYK availability going into 5/16 · 1 day's restOUT Tucker missed 11 since 4/19, returns tonight: 4 min (28% of 16)
OUT Wright missed 2 since 5/12, out tonight
BACK Achiuwa back 5/05 after 6, 4 min since (20% of 18)
BACK Shamet back 5/10 after 4, 3 min since (21% of 14)
NEW Bridges 37 to 43 min over the last 5
NYK availability going into 5/21 · 4 days' restOUT Wright missed 3 since 5/12, returns tonight: 0 min (3% of 14)
BACK Tucker back 5/16 after 11, 4 min since (28% of 16)
BACK Shamet back 5/10 after 4, 4 min since (26% of 14)
NYK availability going into 5/23 · 1 day's restBACK Tucker back 5/16 after 11, 4 min since (28% of 16)
BACK Wright back 5/10 after 8, 2 min since (13% of 14)
BACK Shamet back 5/10 after 4, 4 min since (26% of 14)
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
BOS availability going into 5/16 · 1 day's restBACK Holiday back 5/05 after 3, 33 min since (107% of 31)
BACK Hauser back 5/14 after 3, 15 min since (71% of 21)
BACK Queta back 5/10 after 2, 2 min since (18% of 13)
BACK Scheierman back 5/10 after 2, 2 min since (20% of 12)
BACK Craig back 5/10 after 2, 3 min since (29% of 10)
NEW White 34 to 40 min over the last 5
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.
5/01 @ 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 91-90 — NYK notes
NYK won 91-90. NYK shot 43% (37 of 86) to BOS's 36%, 9 of 31 from three. Hart led with 23 (9 of 15, 3 of 6 from three); Towns added 21, Brunson 17. The hinge was Q4, 30-17: NYK came in trailing by 12 and left it ahead by 1. NYK trailed 41-50 at the half and won the second half 50-40. Robinson was the night's best plus/minus at +19.
5/10 vs BOS 93-115 — NYK notes
NYK lost 93-115. NYK shot 40% (32 of 80) to BOS's 48%, 5 of 25 from three, and went to the line 35 times to BOS's 17 — 24 points from the stripe to their 15. Brunson led with 27 (9 of 21, 3 of 8 from three, 6 of 7 at the line); Towns added 21, Bridges 12. Q4 was theirs, 23-19, the deficit cut from 26 to 22, but the other 3 periods went 96-70 against them. Anunoby's -25 in 31 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/12 vs BOS 121-113 — NYK notes
NYK won 121-113. NYK shot 54% (50 of 92) to BOS's 48%, 12 of 34 from three, and got to the line 12 times to BOS's 26. The glass went 43-31 for them. Brunson led with 39 (14 of 25, 4 of 8 from three, 7 of 9 at the line); Bridges added 23, Towns 23. The hinge was Q3, 37-23: NYK came in trailing by 11 and left it ahead by 3. NYK trailed 51-62 at the half and won the second half 70-51. Bridges was the night's best plus/minus at +14.
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.
5/16 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 103 a night and allowing 110, shooting 43 percent and 35 from three, 26 free throws a game; Brunson at 27 and Towns at 20 a game. Without Tucker (11 straight). One day's rest. Boston comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 110 a night and allowing 103, shooting 43 percent and 36 from three, 22 free throws a game; Tatum at 25 and White at 23 a game. One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, on the road, and the game turns on the defense, Boston allowing 103 a night to New York's 110. Call it Boston 110, New York 108, New York keeping it close.
5/21 vs IND — 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 105 a night and allowing 105, shooting 44 percent and 33 from three, 24 free throws a game; Brunson at 26 and Towns at 21 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. 4 days' rest. Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 114, shooting 50 percent and 42 from three, 24 free throws a game; Siakam at 18 and Haliburton at 17 a game. It has lost the glass by 4 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (86 straight). 7 days' rest.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the arc, Indiana at 42 percent from three to New York's 33 and the glass, where New York has been plus-5 a night and Indiana minus-4. Call it New York 113, Indiana 112, Indiana keeping it close.
5/23 vs IND — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 115, shooting 46 percent and 33 from three, 30 free throws a game; Brunson at 31 and Towns at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 7 a night. One day's rest. Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 121 a night and allowing 119, shooting 50 percent and 39 from three, 27 free throws a game; Haliburton at 19 and Siakam at 18 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (87 straight). One day's rest.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-7 a night and Indiana minus-6 and the arc, Indiana at 39 percent from three to New York's 33. Call it New York 117, Indiana 115, Indiana keeping it close.
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 90-91 — BOS notes
BOS lost 90-91. BOS took 8 more shots (94 to 86), fed by 16 offensive rebounds, but shot 36% to NYK's 43%, 10 of 40 from three. Brown led with 20 (8 of 23, 2 of 7 from three); White added 20, Tatum 13. Q1 was theirs, 24-13, but the other 3 periods went 78-66 against them. They led by as many as 20. Horford's -11 in 29 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/10 @ NYK 115-93 — BOS notes
BOS won 115-93. BOS shot 48% (40 of 83) to NYK's 40%, 20 of 40 from three, and got to the line 17 times to NYK's 35. Pritchard led with 23 (8 of 16, 5 of 10 from three); Tatum added 22, Brown 19. The hinge was Q1, 36-20: from level to 16 ahead, and the lead reached 31. Brown was the night's best plus/minus at +29.
5/12 @ NYK 113-121 — BOS notes
BOS lost 113-121. BOS shot 48% (38 of 79) to NYK's 54%, 18 of 48 from three, and went to the line 26 times to NYK's 12 — 19 points from the stripe to their 9. The glass went 31-43 against them. Tatum led with 42 (16 of 28, 7 of 16 from three); White added 23, Brown 20. Q1 was theirs, 39-28, but the other 3 periods went 93-74 against them. They led by as many as 14. Holiday's -12 in 34 minutes was the worst on the floor.
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.
5/16 @ 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 103 a night and allowing 110, shooting 43 percent and 35 from three, 26 free throws a game; Brunson at 27 and Towns at 20 a game. Without Tucker (11 straight). One day's rest. Boston comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 110 a night and allowing 103, shooting 43 percent and 36 from three, 22 free throws a game; Tatum at 25 and White at 23 a game. One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, on the road, and the game turns on the defense, Boston allowing 103 a night to New York's 110. Call it Boston 110, New York 108, New York keeping it close.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
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
BOSAH A. Horford
DW D. White
JB J. Brown
JH J. Holiday
JT J. Tatum
KP K. Porziņģis
PP P. Pritchard
NYK/BOS 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 take a 3-1 lead over the Celtics with a 121-113 victory as Tatum is injured in final minutes
NEW YORK -- — Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks had just taken control of the game with another fourth-quarter kick when Jayson Tatum fell to the court with a potentially severe right leg injury.
The specifics of Tatum’s injury are uncertain but the situation in the Eastern Conference semifinals is clear.
The Knicks need one more victory to reach the conference finals for the first time in 25 years. The Celtics need to match the biggest comeback in NBA history to extend their title reign.
Brunson had 39 points and 12 assists, and the Knicks pushed the defending champions to the brink of elimination with a 121-113 victory Monday night in Game 4.
Blown out in Game 3, the Knicks dominated the second half to become the first home team to win in this series.
“I think it was a sense of urgency, desperation, just knowing that we have a great opportunity,” Brunson said.
The Celtics will have to make the NBA’s 14th comeback from a 3-1 deficit and may have to do it without Tatum, who was carried off the court with a right leg injury with 2:58 left.
Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns each added 23 points and OG Anunoby bounced back from two poor performances by scoring 20 for the Knicks, who can win the series Wednesday night at Boston. If not, they would come back to Madison Square Garden to try to do it Friday night.
“We have to turn that page quickly and do our first job, which is win on Wednesday. That's the mindset,” Celtics veteran Al Horford said. “As a group, we just have to rally together because obviously we’ve lost our leader, the guy that gets us going.”
Tatum scored 42 points, his high in these playoffs, before he was hurt when the Celtics turned the ball over and his leg gave out as he tried to lunge forward toward the loose ball.
Nobody has come from 3-1 down since Denver did it twice in 2020 at the Walt Disney World resort. It hasn't happened when a team had to win a true road game since Cleveland rallied past Golden State in the 2016 NBA Finals.
After leading by at least 20 points in the first three games — but blowing the first two of them in Boston — the Celtics had another double-digit lead less than five minutes into this game and were up 62-51 at halftime.
Brunson then scored 18 in a desperate third quarter, when the Knicks played their starters the entire way and outscored the Celtics 37-23 to set up a thrilling final period.
“Just keep fighting,” Bridges said. “We were down way worse before.”
Tatum’s three-point play tied it for the final time at 102-all before Anunoby hit a 3-pointer and the Knicks later put it away for good with an 11-0 burst that made it 116-104.
Derrick White made six 3-pointers and scored 23 points for the Celtics. Jaylen Brown had 20.