The New York Knicks got the piss kicked out of them in the second half by the Boston Celtics en route to a 118-95 defeat. Our guys had a five-point lead at halftime, so you know the beating was bad.
To be honest, I turned the game off after Marcus Smart hit a bullshit three at the end of the 24-second clock to put the Celtics up 11 early in the fourth quarter. I’ve seen enough Knicks-Celtics games — not to mention Daivd Fizdale coaching clinics — to know when its over.
And boy was it over.
Mitchell Robinson had his best game of the season, scoring 17 points on 7-7 shooting to go along with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. The his frontline teammates — particularly Bobby Portis — couldn’t stop jack shit when Mitch was out of the game.
Sheeeeeeeeeesh, Mitch pic.twitter.com/kOvn2GTtqL
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) October 27, 2019
Naturally, Mitch ended up hurt.
Mitchell Robinson walked gingerly off the court after apparently hurting his ankle. He’s upset. Knicks trail Boston by 24 with 4:10 to play. They’re on the verge of falling to 0-3.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) October 27, 2019
Julius Randle was pretty good in the first half — particularly on the boards — but was wretched in the second half. Marcus Morris was wretched throughout. Wayne Ellington, who hit a bunch of critical threes just last night, didn’t play at all for some reason.
RJ Barrett was awesome much of the time, but the rook couldn’t stave off the Knicks’ collapse.
Go crazy, rook pic.twitter.com/vNqxnDvP9Z
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) October 27, 2019
Frank Ntilikina played 12 seconds at the end of the first half and did not see the court again. Poor Dennis Smith Jr., who is completely broken psychologically at this point, was booed off the court in the second half, as the Garden faithful chanted “We want Frank.” They did not get Frank.
Recap to come.