The New York Knicks (8-17) head out on the road to TD Garden to take on the Boston Celtics (13-10) on Thursday night. The game is scheduled for an 8 PM ET start. The Knicks are 4-10 on the road while Boston is 6-3 at home. Boston comes in sixth in the Eastern Conference standings while the Knicks are 11th.

In their most recent outing, the Knicks fell by the score of 110-107 to the Washington Wizards on Monday. According to ESPN, that was the ninth straight time that the Wizards won in Madison Square Garden. New York trailed by 16 with 4:24 left, but their late rally wasn’t enough.

Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Knicks with 20 points, and Damyean Dotson added 17 off the bench.

This will be the Celtics’ first game in five days as they haven’t played since December 1. On that day, they defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 118-109. Boston has now won their last three games. Coming off the bench, Gordon Hayward led the team with his 30 points.

Knicks/Celtics injury report

  • New York: Out - Kristaps Porzingis (knee), Lance Thomas (knee), Trey Burke (knee)
  • Boston: Probable - Jaylen Brown (tailbone)

Knicks/Celtics likely starters

  • New York: PG - Emmanuel Mudiay, SG - Tim Hardaway Jr., SF - Mario Hezonja, PF - Noah Vonleh, C - Enes Kanter
  • Boston: PG - Kyrie Irving, SG - Jaylen Brown, SF - Jayson Tatum, PF - Marcus Morris, C - Al Horford

Knicks/Celtics team leaders

  • New York: Points - Tim Hardaway Jr. 22.1, Rebounds - Enes Kanter 11.8, Assists - Tim Hardaway Jr. 3.1, Steals - Damyean Dotson 1.0, Blocks - Mitchell Robinson 2.0
  • Boston: Points - Kyrie Irving 22.2, Rebounds - Jayson Tatum 6.6, Assists - Kyrie Irving 6.4, Steals - Kyrie Irving 1.7, Blocks - Al Horford 1.6

What to know prior to Thursday night’s game

Kyrie Irving always seemed to play his best basketball against the Knicks.

In three games against them last season, he posted averages of 27.7 points and 6.3 assists. This season has been a different story though as he has shot just 14-41 from the field and 2-12 from deep in the two meetings with the Knicks.

Boston has been feasting from the three-point line during their three-game win streak connecting on 53 of 114 attempts (46.5 percent).

After not seeing any floor action for four straight games, Damyean Dotson has averaged 17.8 points on 62.5 percent shooting in New York’s last four games.

Frank Ntilikina, the eighth overall selection by the Knicks in 2017, has not come off the bench at all in each of the last two games. That was the case in the Wizards game despite backup point guard Trey Burke not being available.

Knicks/Celtics regular season history

The Knicks and Celtics long-standing rivalry have seen the two teens meet up 473 times in the regular season, according to Land of Basketball. Boston has a fairly large advantage with a 291-182 edge in the win column.

This is already the third meeting between the teams this season. On October 20, the Celtics eked out a 103-101 win in New York. On November 21, the Knicks returned the favor with a 117-109 victory in Boston.

Boston had won six of the last seven meetings at TD Garden prior to New York's win on November 21.
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