On April 12, Beijing time, the NBA regular season entered the penultimate game day, and after today's game, there were still two days left on the 13th and 15th, and the regular season came to an end. The NBA playoffs are still a mess, and only the Celtics are currently confirmed to be the league's first place, and the Clippers and Mavericks matchup. The competition in the West is in the play-off range, from the Pelicans to the five teams of the Warriors, the Suns cannot fall to the tenth in the West, the Lakers and the Warriors cannot enter the top six, the Lakers may win all the remaining games or drop tenth, and the Warriors win all the remaining games, with a high probability of entering the top eight. And the chaos in the east is concentrated between the second Bucks and the eighth Heat. The Bucks are 2-4 unsure, the Knicks 2-6 are unsure, the Cavaliers are 2-7 unsure, the Magic + Pacers are 3-8 unsure, and the 76ers and Heat are 5-8 unsure.
The Celtics, who have the first record in the league, faced the Knicks at home, and the Knicks really couldn't afford to lose, and they fell out of the top four if they were careless. Before today's game, the Celtics officially announced that the team and Holiday completed a four-year, $135 million contract extension, and Holiday also bluntly said that he wants to win multiple championship rings. In terms of the Knicks, although Randle, the core of the forward, will be reimbursed for the season after undergoing surgery, according to the "BR" modeling calculation, the probability of the Knicks winning the Eastern Conference championship + championship is second only to the Celtics among the ten teams in the East. Brunson, the core of the team, averaged 28.4 points and 6.7 assists per game in the second year of his Knicks career, and averaged 34 points and 8 assists per game in the last 10 games!
Since the two teams are likely to meet in the playoffs, the Celtics did not rotate this game, starting with: Holiday + White + Jaylen Brown + Tatum + Boshen, and Knicks starters: Brunson + DiVincenzo + Hart + Anunoby + Harden. Unexpectedly, it was another shameful battle for the league's No. 1 Celtics! At the beginning of the first quarter, Holiday received an empty catch, Brown and Boshen rained three-pointers, DiVincenzo and Hart blossomed inside and outside, Hart made a strong basket, and the two teams fell into a tug-of-war early. In the middle of the game, the Celtics made consecutive mistakes, Anunoby dunked on various counterattacks, and Brunson led the team to open an eight-point difference. Hauser and Horford hit three-pointers to stop the bleeding in the second half, and Tatum also hit a three-pointer at the end of the quarter, and the Knicks 32-29 Celtics in the first quarter. Back in the second quarter, the two teams were stuck for 2 minutes, Holiday and Horford led the team to bite the score, and the Knicks suddenly made a force.
Brunson made a mid-range shot after blocking and dismantling, Anunoto made three points to the bottom corner, Bogda easily broke through the basket, and hit a rebound on his hand! After a pause, Bogda continued to shoot inside and outside, Brunson completed 3+1 with Holiday on top, and then Brunson continued to shoot three-pointers, and the Knicks opened up a 19-point difference! During this period, Tatum attacked and fouled, Holiday was capped, Brown was hatted, and the game was too ugly! At the end of the quarter, Brunson continued to widen the difference, and the Knicks led the Celtics 69-48 at halftime. Brunson had 18 points in the half and Bogda had 12. At the beginning of the second half, Boshen finally hit a three-point shot, Brunson rained three points + broke through and threw a shot, Anunoby dunked violently, and the Celtics couldn't prevent Brunson.
Unexpectedly, the Celtics gave up directly, suddenly changed to the second lineup, and the starting five "clocked in and out"! Springer, who was on the court, obviously had a task and crashed Brunson from behind, and after the third quarter, the Knicks led the Celtics 100-71. Brunson scored 39 points in the third quarter, and the fourth quarter seemed to lose suspense, and from the perspective of protecting Brunson, and the huge point difference, he didn't need to stay on the court. The Celtics came off the bench to chase points, and the Knicks also understood the world, and in the end, the Celtics lost to the Knicks 109-118 at home!
Celtics statistics, Tatum 18 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, Jaylen Brown 15 points, Boshen 14 points and 8 rebounds, Hauser 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, Pritchard 16 points and 6 assists. Knicks stats, Brunson 39 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists, DiVincenzo 17 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, Harden 11 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks, Anunoby 12 points and 5 rebounds, Hart 16 points, 16 rebounds and 5 assists, Bogda 14 points and 3 rebounds.
After the Celtics locked up first place in the league, the game became more and more ugly. Including deliberately releasing the water kings before, being bullied by the Hawks, helping the Bucks end their losing streak, and being beaten by Brunson in the third quarter of the game, disarming and surrendering. It is true that losing does not affect the rankings, but it definitely affects the self-confidence of the players. In the face of the Knicks' strong defense, the Celtics have no tactics, just throw three points, Brown and Tatum if they really don't want to play, don't play, leave more time to Pritchard and Hauser as substitutes, and there is no point in messing around on the court. I'm afraid that if I keep loosening it now, I won't be able to tighten it up in the playoffs, and I will be in a thousand miles. That's it for Celtic this season.