Celtics 104, Knicks 102: Scenes from a pretty good effort

The New York Knicks lost a tough one Friday night to the Boston Celtics, 104-102 . The Knicks played perhaps their best all-around game of the season, going toe-to-toe with the hated Green Goblins for 48 minutes. Unfortunately, the Knicks lack a player like Kemba Walker (33 points) or Jayson Tatum (25 points, including the game-winner) to get them over the hump in these type of slug-fests.

Hopefully RJ Barrett can become that guy some day. Barrett had a good game throughout, but missed pretty much every key shot down the stretch. Worse, he missed a few teammates on open looks. I have the utmost faith in RJ, but it’s always scary to see a talented Knick turn into a hero-ball player, even if only for a night.

Marcus Morris, continuing the Knicks’ revenge-game trend, was the hero of the evening for New York, scoring 29 points, including a massive three-pointer to tie the game briefly with only seconds left.

Frank Ntilikina started and had 10 points and one magnificent block of Marcus Smart.

Mitchell Robinson hurt his finger early in the second half, but returned in time to make this sweet block leading to a Knicks fast-break.

All-in-all, a pretty good night. We all knew the friggin’ Celtics would pull it out, but the Knicks made them sweat. Recap to come.