The Celtics dismantled the New York Knicks, winning 118-95. The score itself doesn’t tell the whole story of the game. The Knicks kept it close with the Celtics, they went into halftime with the lead. Unfortunately for them, Kemba Walker took over in the third quarter. He showed Boston fans what he is capable of in the spotlight. This loss puts the Knicks to 0-3 to start the season.
Walker scored 21 of his 32 points in the second half of the game. He had a stretch of just over one minute in the third quarter where he hit three consecutive threes for Boston. Walker has wasted no time making his mark on this Celtics team. He has been playing surprisingly well on defense for someone as small as he is.
Speaking of height, the Celtics were without their starting big man Enes Kanter as well as Daniel Theis. This led coach Brad Stevens to start Robert Williams, the third starting center in as many games. Small ball lineups seem to be working for the C’s. Running the six-foot-seven rookie Grant Williams at center has been quite successful. Despite being smaller than other big men, Williams has been playing good defense as well as being a menace on the offensive glass.
Brad Stevens has been debuting some very interesting lineups this season. He is a firm believer in “position less basketball” and some of his lineups look ridiculous (but they work). He has no problem sending out three guards on the court at once, he won’t run a traditional big man, and it can be confusing to other teams on how they have to match up.
The Celtics ran up the score late in the game, opening the NBA up to their first real Tacko Fall minutes. Fall only played for four minutes at the end of the game, but he scored 4 points and grabbed 3 rebounds.
Celtics move on to 2-1 for the season now. They don’t play again until Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks, the same team that eliminated them from the playoffs just months ago. While the Celtics roster has changed, the game plan will still be the same, and that is to stop Giannis. The C’s have the advantage of playing at home, but this should be a good game.
