The Boston Celtics (26-8) head to Madison Square Garden for a Thursday night matchup against the New York Knicks (16-14).
Boston tasted defeat on Wednesday as Kyrie Irving’s game-winning attempt at the buzzer clanged off the rim giving the Miami Heat a 90-89 win. The Celtics managed to shoot just 37.5 percent from the field for the game. Irving led the team with 33 points, Jaylen Brown scored 16, and Terry Rozier had 15 off the bench.
The Knicks’ four-game win streak came to a halt on Monday when they were defeated 109-91 by the Charlotte Hornets.
New York was unable to buy a bucket from deep finishing 3-18 from three-point territory. They were led by Michael Beasley who finished with 23 points and nine rebounds.
Starting lineups
Celtics: PG - Kyrie Irving, SG - Jaylen Brown, SF - Jayson Tatum, PF - Al Horford, C - Aron Baynes
Knicks: PG - Jarrett Jack, SG - Courtney Lee, SF - Lance Thomas, PF - Kristaps Porzingis, C - Enes Kanter
Leaders
Celtics: Scoring - Kyrie Irving 24.5, Rebounding - Al Horford 7.9, Assists - Al Horford 5.4
Knicks: Scoring - Kristaps Porzingis 25.5, Rebounding - Enes Kanter 9.8, Assists - Jarrett Jack 6.1
Injury report
Celtics: Out - Gordon Hayward (ankle), Marcus Morris (knee)
Knicks: Out - Tim Hardaway Jr. (leg), Probable - Kristaps Porzingis (knee)
What to know and watch for
The Knicks will look for their fifth straight win at home on Thursday where they are 14-5 on the season.
They can equal the San Antonio Spurs for the most home wins in the league if they are able to get their 15th against Boston. They went just 19-22 at Madison Square Garden in 2016-17 and didn’t get their 14th home win until February 12.
The Celtics started the season 0-2, and then went on to win 22 of their next 24 games including winning 16 in a row at one point.
Their play has slipped a bit recently though as they have a .500 record at 4-4 in their last eight games. Boston has been held to 95 points or less in four of those outings.
Boston entered Wednesday with the best defensive rating in the NBA allowing just 98.5 points per 100 possessions. The Knicks are in the upper half of the league ranking 11th out of 30 teams in averaging 108.3 points per 100 possessions.
Celtics/Knicks regular season history
Two of the NBA's original franchises, the Celtics, and Knicks have met 468 times in the regular season. Boston holds a 288-180 advantage in the win column.
The Celtics have owned the head-to-head series of late winning two in a row, six of the last seven, and 10 of the last 12. They met once this season in Boston with the Knicks falling by the score of 110-89 on October 24.
The Celtics have won the last three meetings at Madison Square Garden.
