Jaylen Brown drops 42 as Celtics knock off Knicks in statement win

The Pistons The Cavaliers And now the Knicks The Celtics dispatched yet another Eastern Conference contender Tuesday night defeating New York - in front of a revved-up TD Garden crowd Jaylen Brown who s shined this season in injured co-star Jayson Tatum s absence punctuated a -point outing with an emphatic dunk in the final seconds It was the second -point outing in four days for the Celtics star who overcame an uneven start to shoot -for- from the field and -for- from the foul line Derrick White added points and Jordan Walsh scored all eight of his points in the final six minutes to help deny a late Knicks charge Mikal Bridges scored points to lead New York and Karl Anthony-Towns scored but Hugo Gonzalez s stingy second-quarter defense against the latter tilted the contest in Boston s favor The Celtics largely contained All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson points assists who went -for- and attempted just three free throws Boston improved to - on the season with victories in seven of its last nine games Since an - start that included a loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden the Celtics have won two-thirds of their games They ll visit the last-place Wizards on Thursday before returning home for a Friday night showcase against LeBron James Luka Doncic and the Lakers The Celtics fell behind - during a haphazard start that featured two turnovers by Brown and one by White The Knicks scored on six of their first nine possessions with four of those producing -pointers Brown s third giveaway sparked a Mikal Bridges fast break giving New York an early - edge in points off turnovers Boston also had a formidable time working the glass against Mitchell Robinson who pulled down three offensive rebounds in the first quarter That prompted Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla to briefly bring back the Hack-A- strategy he used against the poor-shooting center at times in last season s playoff series Late in the opening period with New York in the bonus rookie Amari Williams checked in intentionally fouled Robinson away from the ball and then straightaway subbed back out Baylor Scheierman also had two deliberate fouls on Robinson in the ensuing seconds The second of those was deemed an away from the play foul giving the Knicks one free throw taken by Brunson and possession Robinson went -for- from the line Keeping New York s other big man away from the basket was another complication for the Celtics Towns had success bullying his way through the paint in the early going making his first four field-goal attempts from inside feet The Celtics cure send in their -year-old attack dog and have him hound disrupt and otherwise annoy the five-time All-Star Gonzalez handled that challenge with aplomb pestering the much taller Towns into two turnovers while holding him scoreless for the final minutes of the first half Once Towns checked out Gonzalez shifted his attention to other Knicks targets The high-energy rookie picked Brunson s pocket leading to a transition layup for Boston He and Josh Minott induced a delay-of-game technical foul by aggressively boxing out Robinson on a free throw Gonzalez whose NBA breakout came in these teams previous meeting at Madison Square Garden played the entire second quarter and was a plus- at halftime At the other end Brown was atoning for his early sloppiness by igniting the Celtics offense He scored second-quarter points to help the Celtics turn a -point deficit into a - halftime lead Brown White and Minott all hit -pointers during that rally but Boston did much of its damage inside the arc The Celtics made just four threes in the first half well below their league-leading average of but dominated the paint outscoring New York - on -of- shooting Quality shot-making from Bridges kept the Knicks within reach for greater part of the third quarter Then New York cracked The Celtics scored on their final five possessions of the quarter as part of a - run The quarter ended with a White steal that led to a Sam Hauser three followed by Hauser steal that set up a White triple Minott also blocked Brunson at the rim during the Celtics scoring binge which put Boston ahead - entering the fourth Brown poured in another points in the quarter pushing him past the -point mark for the th time in games this season Then Gonzalez s physicality a major asset for Boston during its comeback helped spark a Knicks resurgence Up - Gonzalez was called for a flagrant foul for an illegal closeout on Bridges giving the Knicks three shots and the ball Bridges made all three and Towns converted a three-point play under the basket on the ensuing possession White missed a -pointer and Bridges nailed one cutting the Celtics lead from points to three in less than a minute The Knicks never closed the gap however thanks to clutch plays from two of Boston s other young wings Minott answered Bridges make with his third -pointer of the challenge and Walsh scored consecutive second-chance baskets off his own offensive rebounds Walsh also stole a Brunson pass grabbed a third offensive board and finished a tough layup in traffic that put the Celtics up - with to play Late free throws by Brown and White followed by a White layup and Brown s coffin-nail dunk closed out another impressive win for the Celtics In the last days Boston has beaten New York Cleveland Detroit and Orlando four of the top six teams in the latest Eastern Conference standings Its only loss during that stretch was a four-point defeat at Minnesota that was tied in the final minutes