While the Madison Square Garden environment felt more like a May matchup than an October meeting, both the Celtics (0-1) and Knicks (1-0) showed their early-season legs late in a frantic double-OT finish. Ultimately, Julius Randle and Evan Fournier outlasted the Celtics in a 138-134 thriller after Boston mounted a furious comeback to force overtime.
Following a Fournier three with 58 seconds left, the Celtics trailed 112-106 in a game that felt over following a Knicks third-quarter surge. After a Grant Williams layup cut the lead to four, the Celtics came up with a steal and Robert Williams III converted on a pair of free throws.
Jaylen Brown had three of his game-high 46 points from the parking lot to put the pressure on New York late.
🔥 JAYLEN BROWN 🔥
(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/gCJG0k6ZEI
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 21, 2021
A wild sequence and inexplicably poor defense from the Knicks gave Marcus Smart a wide open three-point look at the buzzer which he drained to force overtime.
The overtime session began with both teams connecting on their first four shots from the field. Brown scored four of the first five Celtics points to begin the extra period, while Fournier poured in three straight threes for the Knicks. After trading blows, it was Jayson Tatum with the final look. The Celtics star could not connect on a difficult 15-footer as Boston headed to a second overtime on opening night.
Tatum struggled with his shot all night long, finishing 7-30 from the field and just 2-15 from three-point range. He would end the night with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
The second overtime saw Fournier with yet another answer for New York, as his sixth three gave the Knicks a 136-134 lead with under a minute remaining. The Frenchman finished with 32 points in his Knick debut.
Before there was double-overtime craziness at Madison Square Garden, the Celtics built a six-point first-quarter lead behind hot shooting early. Late in the third-quarter, a scoring flurry from RJ Barrett and Obi Toppin turned a seven-point Celtics lead into a four-point Knicks lead by the end of the period.
In the end, both teams were playing on tired legs in the overtime sessions as the Knicks were able to knock down a few more late jumpers.
It was an incredible Boston comeback to force the overtime session, but the Knicks showed the resilience that defined them a year ago in the opening win.
The Celtics will have to fight