Game ID: 22501168
Boston Celtics @ New York Knicks
Thursday, April 9, 2026 at 7:30 PM ET
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
NYK 26 28 27 31 112BOS 29 24 30 23 106
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 3/31 · 1 day's restOUT Shamet missed 4 since 3/22, out tonight
BACK McBride back 3/29 after 28, 11 min since (46% of 24)
NYK availability going into 4/01 · back-to-backOUT Shamet missed 5 since 3/22, returns tonight: 31 min (144% of 21)
BACK McBride back 3/29 after 28, 12 min since (50% of 24)
NYK availability going into 4/03 · 1 day's restBACK McBride back 3/29 after 28, 12 min since (50% of 24)
BACK Shamet back 4/01 after 5, 31 min since (144% of 21)
NYK availability going into 4/06 · 2 days' restBACK McBride back 3/29 after 28, 12 min since (51% of 24)
BACK Shamet back 4/01 after 5, 22 min since (102% of 21)
NYK availability going into 4/09 · 2 days' restBACK McBride back 3/29 after 28, 14 min since (59% of 24)
BACK Shamet back 4/01 after 5, 22 min since (101% of 21)
NYK availability going into 4/10 · back-to-backOUT Alvarado missed 2 since 4/06, returns tonight: 18 min (129% of 14)
OUT Kolek missed 2 since 4/06, out tonight
BACK Shamet back 4/01 after 5, 21 min since (98% of 21)
NYK availability going into 4/12 · 1 day's restOUT Kolek missed 3 since 4/06, out tonight
BACK Shamet back 4/01 after 5, 22 min since (105% of 21)
BACK Alvarado back 4/10 after 2, 18 min since (129% of 14)
NYK availability going into 4/18 · 5 days' restOUT Robinson missed 2 since 4/10, returns tonight: 14 min (79% of 18)
OUT Kolek missed 4 since 4/06, out tonight
BACK Alvarado back 4/10 after 2, 26 min since (185% of 14)
NYK availability going into 4/20 · 1 day's restOUT Kolek missed 5 since 4/06, out tonight
BACK Robinson back 4/18 after 2, 14 min since (79% of 18)
BACK Alvarado back 4/10 after 2, 26 min since (185% of 14)
BOS availability going into 4/01 · 1 day's restOUT Vučević missed 12 since 3/08, out tonight
BACK Brown back 3/30 after 2, 40 min since (116% of 34)
BACK Walsh back 3/27 after 6, 31 min since (178% of 17)
NEW Scheierman 18 to 26 min over the last 5
BOS availability going into 4/03 · 1 day's restOUT Vučević missed 13 since 3/08, out tonight
BACK Brown back 3/30 after 2, 39 min since (112% of 34)
BACK Walsh back 3/27 after 6, 24 min since (141% of 17)
NEW Scheierman 18 to 24 min over the last 5
BOS availability going into 4/05 · 1 day's restOUT Vučević missed 14 since 3/08, returns tonight: 13 min (63% of 20)
BACK Brown back 3/30 after 2, 36 min since (104% of 34)
BACK Walsh back 3/27 after 6, 22 min since (127% of 17)
NEW Scheierman 18 to 25 min over the last 5
BOS availability going into 4/07 · 1 day's restBACK Brown back 3/30 after 2, 36 min since (104% of 34)
BACK Vučević back 4/05 after 14, 13 min since (63% of 20)
NEW Queta 25 to 31 min over the last 4
BOS availability going into 4/09 · 1 day's restOUT Garza missed 2 since 4/05, out tonight
BACK Brown back 3/30 after 2, 37 min since (108% of 34)
BACK Vučević back 4/05 after 14, 18 min since (87% of 20)
NEW Queta 25 to 30 min over the last 4
BOS availability going into 4/10 · back-to-backOUT Garza missed 3 since 4/05, returns tonight: 16 min (104% of 16)
OUT González missed 2 since 4/07, returns tonight: 25 min (180% of 14)
BACK Vučević back 4/05 after 14, 20 min since (97% of 20)
BOS availability going into 4/12 · 1 day's restBACK Vučević back 4/05 after 14, 20 min since (95% of 20)
BACK Garza back 4/10 after 3, 16 min since (104% of 16)
BACK González back 4/10 after 2, 25 min since (180% of 14)
BOS availability going into 4/19 · 6 days' restOUT Tatum missed 2 since 4/10, returns tonight: 32 min (96% of 34)
BACK Vučević back 4/05 after 14, 20 min since (95% of 20)
BACK Garza back 4/10 after 3, 27 min since (175% of 16)
BACK González back 4/10 after 2, 25 min since (180% of 14)
NEW Scheierman 18 to 24 min over the last 5
BOS availability going into 4/21 · 1 day's restBACK Tatum back 4/19 after 2, 32 min since (96% of 34)
BACK Garza back 4/10 after 3, 23 min since (147% of 16)
BACK González back 4/10 after 2, 13 min since (94% of 14)
NEW Scheierman 18 to 24 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 114 a night and allowing 108, shooting 49 percent and 37 from three, 20 free throws a game; Brunson at 23 and Towns at 20 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has won the glass by 10 a night. 2 days' rest. Boston comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 122 a night and allowing 109, shooting 52 percent and 41 from three, 19 free throws a game; Brown at 32 and Tatum at 24 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has won the glass by 10 a night. Without Garza (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: New York wins, in a game with no one edge to lean on. Call it New York 113, Boston 112, Boston keeping it close.
3/31 @ HOU 94-111 — NYK notes
NYK lost 94-111. NYK shot 42% (36 of 85) to HOU's 54%, 10 of 34 from three. Towns led with 22 (7 of 17, 2 of 4 from three, 6 of 8 at the line); Hart added 13, Brunson 12. Q2 was theirs, 29-26, the deficit cut from 16 to 13, but the other 3 periods went 85-65 against them. Brunson's -26 in 37 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/01 @ MEM 130-119 — NYK notes
NYK won 130-119. NYK shot 55% (48 of 87) to MEM's 51%, 13 of 32 from three, and got to the line 24 times to MEM's 30. NYK turned it over 19 times to MEM's 13, and MEM turned those into 10 steals. The glass went 49-20 for them. Anunoby led with 25 (8 of 17, 4 of 8 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Bridges added 24, Towns 20. The hinge was Q1, 48-30: from level to 18 ahead, and the lead reached 22. Anunoby was the night's best plus/minus at +15.
4/03 vs CHI 136-96 — NYK notes
NYK won 136-96. NYK shot 53% (48 of 91) to CHI's 43%, 15 of 39 from three. NYK turned it over 8 times to CHI's 16. The glass went 54-36 for them. Anunoby led with 31 (9 of 15, 7 of 10 from three, 6 of 6 at the line); Brunson added 17, Robinson 17. The hinge was Q1, 38-16: from level to 22 ahead, and the lead reached 47. Anunoby was the night's best plus/minus at +32.
4/06 @ ATL 108-105 — NYK notes
NYK won 108-105. NYK shot 50% (42 of 84) to ATL's 40%, 11 of 33 from three. Brunson led with 30 (11 of 26, 3 of 8 from three, 5 of 7 at the line); Anunoby added 22, Towns 21. The hinge was Q3, 28-22: NYK came in trailing by 4 and left it ahead by 2. NYK trailed 53-57 at the half and won the second half 55-48.
4/09 vs BOS 112-106 — NYK notes
NYK won 112-106. NYK shot 54% (43 of 80) to BOS's 45%, 15 of 35 from three. The glass went 30-42 against them. Hart led with 26 (10 of 15, 5 of 7 from three); Brunson added 25, Towns 16. The hinge was Q4, 31-23: NYK came in trailing by 2 and left it ahead by 6. Bridges was the night's best plus/minus at +17.
4/10 vs TOR — 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 116 a night and allowing 107, shooting 51 percent and 37 from three, 20 free throws a game; Brunson at 21 and Anunoby at 20 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has won the glass by 7 a night. Second night of a back-to-back. Toronto comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 109, shooting 51 percent and 41 from three, 28 free throws a game; Ingram at 23 and Barrett at 20 a game. Second night of a back-to-back.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-7 a night and Toronto plus-0 and the line, where Toronto takes 28 free throws a game to New York's 20. Call it New York 115, Toronto 111, Toronto keeping it close.
4/12 vs CHA — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 120 a night and allowing 104, shooting 53 percent and 36 from three, 22 free throws a game; Brunson at 25 and Towns at 20 a game. That is 5 straight wins. It has won the glass by 8 a night. One day's rest. Charlotte comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 111, shooting 46 percent and 38 from three, 16 free throws a game; Ball at 26 and Bridges at 18 a game. Without Salaün (19 straight). One day's rest.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-8 a night and Charlotte plus-3 and the line, where New York takes 22 free throws a game to Charlotte's 16. Call it New York 116, Charlotte 110.
4/18 vs ATL — 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 113 a night and allowing 102, shooting 51 percent and 35 from three, 19 free throws a game; Brunson at 25 and Towns at 20 a game. Without Robinson (2 straight). 5 days' rest. Atlanta comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 121 a night and allowing 116, shooting 48 percent and 40 from three, 20 free throws a game; Alexander-Walker at 25 and McCollum at 21 a game. 5 days' rest.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the defense, New York allowing 102 a night to Atlanta's 116 and the arc, Atlanta at 40 percent from three to New York's 35. Call it New York 117, Atlanta 111.
4/20 vs ATL — 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 108 a night and allowing 104, shooting 50 percent and 36 from three, 19 free throws a game; Brunson at 28 and Towns at 21 a game. One day's rest. Atlanta comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 118, shooting 45 percent and 37 from three, 19 free throws a game; Alexander-Walker at 24 and McCollum at 21 a game. One day's rest.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the defense, New York allowing 104 a night to Atlanta's 118. Call it New York 116, Atlanta 110.
4/01 @ MIA 147-129 — BOS notes
BOS won 147-129. BOS shot 58% (56 of 96) to MIA's 46%, 21 of 44 from three. The glass went 48-37 for them. Brown led with 43 (17 of 29, 4 of 10 from three, 5 of 7 at the line); Tatum added 25, Hauser 23. The hinge was Q1, 53-33: from level to 20 ahead, and the lead reached 27. Queta was the night's best plus/minus at +28.
4/03 @ MIL 133-101 — BOS notes
BOS won 133-101. BOS shot 56% (50 of 89) to MIL's 42%, 17 of 37 from three, and went to the line 19 times to MIL's 13 — 16 points from the stripe to their 10. BOS turned it over 8 times to MIL's 13. The glass went 48-30 for them. Brown led with 26 (7 of 17, 2 of 4 from three, 10 of 11 at the line); Tatum added 23, Queta 19. The hinge was Q1, 43-26: from level to 17 ahead, and the lead reached 35. White was the night's best plus/minus at +34.
4/05 vs TOR 115-101 — BOS notes
BOS won 115-101. BOS shot 53% (47 of 88) to TOR's 48%, 8 of 28 from three. The glass went 44-31 for them. Brown led with 26 (11 of 20, 1 of 3 from three); Tatum added 23, Queta 18. The hinge was Q4, 35-24: a lead of 3 became 14, and the lead reached 18. Queta was the night's best plus/minus at +30.
4/07 vs CHA 113-102 — BOS notes
BOS won 113-102. BOS shot 49% (43 of 87) to CHA's 43%, 17 of 42 from three. Brown led with 35 (13 of 29, 3 of 10 from three, 6 of 7 at the line); Tatum added 23, White 12. The hinge was Q3, 35-26: BOS came in trailing by 6 and left it ahead by 3. BOS trailed 55-61 at the half and won the second half 58-41. White was the night's best plus/minus at +18.
4/09 @ NYK 106-112 — BOS notes
BOS lost 106-112. BOS shot 45% (38 of 84) to NYK's 54%, 16 of 43 from three. The glass went 42-30 for them. Tatum led with 24 (7 of 22, 2 of 10 from three, 8 of 10 at the line); Pritchard added 23, Scheierman 20. Q1 was theirs, 29-26, but the other 3 periods went 86-77 against them. Tatum's -16 in 40 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/10 vs NOP — 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 123 a night and allowing 109, shooting 53 percent and 41 from three, 17 free throws a game; Brown at 32 and Tatum at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 12 a night. Without Garza (3 straight). Second night of a back-to-back. New Orleans comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 124, shooting 48 percent and 37 from three, 27 free throws a game; Fears at 24 and Bey at 21 a game. It has lost the glass by 7 a night. Without McGowens (14 straight), Jordan (5 straight). 2 days' rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Boston has been plus-12 a night and New Orleans minus-7 and the defense, Boston allowing 109 a night to New Orleans's 124. Call it Boston 121, New Orleans 111, Boston by 10.
4/12 vs ORL — 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 122 a night and allowing 107, shooting 52 percent and 42 from three, 16 free throws a game; Brown at 28 and Tatum at 23 a game. It has won the glass by 10 a night. One day's rest. Orlando comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 126 a night and allowing 113, shooting 51 percent and 38 from three, 32 free throws a game; Bane at 20 and Banchero at 20 a game. That is 5 straight wins. It has won the glass by 6 a night. One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the line, where Orlando takes 32 free throws a game to Boston's 16 and the defense, Boston allowing 107 a night to Orlando's 113. Call it Boston 117, Orlando 113, Orlando keeping it close.
4/19 vs PHI — 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 118 a night and allowing 108, shooting 49 percent and 40 from three, 16 free throws a game; Brown at 28 and Tatum at 23 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. Without Tatum (2 straight). 6 days' rest. Philadelphia comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 109, shooting 44 percent and 31 from three, 22 free throws a game; Maxey at 23 and Edgecombe at 16 a game. Without Embiid (3 straight). 6 days' rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the arc, Boston at 40 percent from three to Philadelphia's 31 and the glass, where Boston has been plus-5 a night and Philadelphia minus-2. Call it Boston 116, Philadelphia 108.
4/21 vs PHI — 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 120 a night and allowing 106, shooting 48 percent and 41 from three, 17 free throws a game; Brown at 28 and Tatum at 24 a game. That is 3 straight wins. One day's rest. Philadelphia comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 105 a night and allowing 110, shooting 43 percent and 29 from three, 23 free throws a game; Maxey at 23 and Edgecombe at 14 a game. Without Embiid (4 straight). One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the arc, Boston at 41 percent from three to Philadelphia's 29 and the line, where Philadelphia takes 23 free throws a game to Boston's 17. Call it Boston 117, Philadelphia 107, Boston by 10.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
BOSBS B. Scheierman
DW D. White
JT J. Tatum
JW J. Walsh
NQ N. Queta
NV N. Vučević
PP P. Pritchard
SH S. Hauser
VU Vucevic
NYKJB J. Brunson
JC J. Clarkson
JH J. Hart
KT K. Towns
LS L. Shamet
MB M. Bridges
MM M. McBride
MR M. Robinson
OA O. Anunoby
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 stay alive in race for No. 2 seed in East, beat Celtics in Tatum's return to MSG
NEW YORK -- — Josh Hart scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, Jalen Brunson had 25 points and 10 assists, and the New York Knicks stayed alive in the race for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 112-106 victory over Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.
Tatum finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in his first game back on the Madison Square Garden court where he ruptured his Achilles tendon in last season's playoffs .
The Knicks (52-28) pulled within two games of the Celtics (54-26) for second place with two games to play for both teams. New York owns the tiebreaker after winning the season series 3-1 and would take the No. 2 seed with two wins and two Boston losses.
Hart made two 3-pointers in the final 42 seconds to give New York more wins this season under Mike Brown than in its 51-31 finish last season in Tom Thibodeau's final season.
The Knicks then knocked off the Celtics in the second round of those playoffs, helped by Tatum's season-ending injury in Game 4 of the series. He acknowledged some nervousness and anxiousness Thursday before playing again in the arena before finishing just shy of his second triple-double since returning to play last month.
The Celtics had their four-game winning streak snapped while playing without leading scorer Jaylen Brown , averaging 28.8 points, because of left Achilles tendinitis.
Payton Pritchard added 23 points and Baylor Scheierman had 20, going 6 for 7 from 3-point range.
The Knicks host Toronto on Friday in a possible playoff preview and close against Charlotte on Sunday. Boston hosts New Orleans on Friday and Orlando on Sunday.