The Knicks Beat The Celtics In An Absolutely Wild Double Overtime Thriller To Open The Season

The Knicks and Celtics opened the season in New York in a game that sets the bar incredibly high for game of the season candidates to come. Ultimately, New York pulled out a 138-134 win in double overtime after some wild twists and turns that saw both teams look like they were taking control only to see the other team rally back.

Early on, Boston was the team in control, leading by as many as 12 in the second quarter thanks to some sensational play from Jaylen Brown, who erupted for 20 first quarter points to push the Celtics ahead.

However, the Knicks had the answer, courtesy of Julius Randle, who had 20 first half points of his own to lead New York back into the game.

New York’s run continued in the third as the young Knicks got involved, with RJ Barrett and Obi Toppin going on a tear in the third as the Knicks opened things up to take an 11-point fourth quarter lead.

This time it was Boston’s turn to respond, and they turned to a rather unlikely source in Grant Williams, who had three clutch buckets to help the Celtics rally their way back into the game.

Still, Boston was down four with 10 seconds to play and the prospects of getting a win looked bleak, until Jaylen Brown once again popped up to hit a massive three to cut the deficit to one.

After the Knicks made their free throws to push the lead back to three, they had a meltdown defensively, as Evan Fournier bizarrely soft doubled Jayson Tatum, allowing Boston to get the ball to a wide open Marcus Smart, who drilled a game-tying three to force OT.

In overtime, Fournier sought redemption in the form of a barrage of threes, as he and Brown traded huge shots to open the period as neither team could seemingly miss for the first three minutes of OT. From there, everyone’s legs went away and neither team was capable of getting separation, with the Celtics getting the last look of the period at a game-winner, but Tatum wasn’t able to even draw iron, sending the game to double OT.

In the second overtime, things were ragged once again as two tired teams tried valiantly to make a push for the win, trading leads with and-1 buckets from Randle and Tatum.

Ultimately, it was the Knicks that had just enough juice to take care of business thanks to another big three from Fournier, who finished with 32 points, the most ever for a player in his Knick debut.

For Boston, it was a whole lot of effort just to come out with a loss on the other side, particularly from Brown who posted a career-high with 46 points in the loss, doing everything in his power to will the Celtics to a win. The Knicks, led by Fournier and Randle (35 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds), had just a bit more to give in the opener and delivered an instant classic to start the season in the Garden.

Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/knicks-celtics-double-overtime-video-highlights-fournier-brown/