Boston Celtics (1-1) beat New York Knicks (0-2) 107-103 at home on Friday, October 23 in a game that stayed within 10 points at every quarter break.
How it stayed close
Neither side ever opened a real gap. The Celtics led by 1 at halftime and by 10 after three, and the fourth quarter (24-30) decided it.
The edge that mattered
The Celtics gave the ball away on 10.6% of their possessions while the Knicks did so 17% of the time. Protecting the ball is an easy edge to overlook, but each turnover costs a shot.
The Knicks did win one battle, second chances: ORB% of 30.8% against 23.8%. The Celtics made up for it elsewhere.
The game played at about 94 possessions per team. The Celtics scored 113.7 points per 100 possessions and the Knicks scored 109.4, a difference of 4.3.
The Celtics' reserves also made a difference, outscoring the opposing bench 36-12.
Who made the difference
Jayson Tatum (BOS) posted the best line of the night by Game Score (31.6): 36 pts, 9 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl on 14-26 shooting. The team was +1 in the minutes Jayson played.
For the Knicks, OG Anunoby was the best of the rest at 19.5: 20 pts, 10 reb, 8 ast on 5-11 shooting.
Josh Hart (10 pts, 12 reb, 5 ast), OG Anunoby (20 pts, 10 reb, 8 ast), and Karl-Anthony Towns (22 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast) each recorded a double-double.
Game Score is a single number that weighs points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, shooting efficiency, fouls and turnovers. It is not an official stat, just a quick way to rank lines.
What it means
The pre-game Win Meter had it close to a coin flip, at about 48% for the Celtics.
Across the last 14 meetings in our records, the series is even.
The Celtics are now 1-1, and the Knicks are 0-2. The Celtics last five before this game: W-L-L-L-L.
Written automatically by Tip Off Live software from box score data. Ratings and probabilities are our own model estimates.