BOSTON Jan. 9 (US): Jaylen Brown scored 22 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds in his first hat-trick of his career, Jason Tatum scored 19 points and the Boston Celtics beat the New York Knicks 99-75 on Saturday night.
Josh Richardson scored 17 points and Robert Williams finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocks with the Celtics, who split the home run after the Knicks plunged from 25 points Thursday in New York, The Associated Press reported.
Boston lost 108-105 on a 3-pointer held by RJ Barrett at the bell. The Celtics slipped early Saturday, but took a big lead by a dominant third-quarter margin and didn’t let this one slip away.
“Anytime you blow progress like that, you won’t forget it. We learned from that experience,” Brown said.
Brown also wasn’t about to forget his first trilogy, which he attributed to extra work in practice and the movie room.
“This was a game where some of that hard work paid off. He knew he was within range at the end of the third quarter with 16 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, but he didn’t want to focus on it,” said Brown.
“I just wanted to keep playing basketball. I don’t try to chase the stats. I’m not a guy trying to do that,” Brown said.
Barrett scored 19 points. Julius Randle added 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who were strong from behind the arc in the first inning but weren’t able to overcome their poor free throw. New York had 11 of 31 three-pointers, but finished only 6 for 15 from the foul streak.
A follow-up shot by Mitchell Robinson after Barrett’s missed free throw with 0.9secs left pulled New York within 44-42 at the break, but the Celtics took over in the third quarter.
“I liked the way we played in the first half, but in the first five or six minutes of the third we got back on our heels and they ran,” said Knicks coach Tom Tebodeau. “I thought we had some really good shots in the first half, but then in the second half we probably stuck with them for too long and they were able to go up and down the ground.”
Boston opened third in the 10-2 round and made 11 of 19 shots, taking 3-pointers from Brown with a second left to lead 76-60. The Celtics maintained their lead after the break, opening the fourth inning with consecutive 3-pointers by Richardson and Tatum that pushed the lead to 82-60 with 10:09 left.
“To win on the road you have to play 48 minutes and we didn’t do that tonight,” Tibodo said.
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Randle was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Saturday for what the league called “indecent” use of profanity in interviews.
The league cited Randall’s use of profanity in media interviews after practice and again Thursday night after the win over Boston.
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Boston coach Im Odoka, who questioned his team’s mental toughness after Thursday’s loss in New York, said the Celtics responded as they should. He was happy that Boston managed to push New York to just 42 points in the first half, and then was thrilled when the Celtics allowed the Knicks just 33 points in the second half.
“We have done it half and half a few times this year and tonight we put together a complete one,” Odoka said.
Hints:
Knicks: Emmanuel Quikley scored 18 points. …G Evan Fournier, who scored 41 career points on Thursday against his former team, came off with a bruised left thigh. New York was also without JK Kemba Walker, who missed his fifth goal in a row with a sore left knee.
Celtics: Marcus Smart finished with 10 points. …Al Horford was the only Boston player not to score in double digits. Horford finished with three points, four rebounds and five assists. …Team Boston successfully challenged an offensive foul that called Smart in the second quarter, and it was reversed after a video review.
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Knicks: Host the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.
Celtics: Host the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.