Jayson Tatum scored 35 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, to propel the Boston Celtics to a 114-98 victory over the visiting New York Knicks on Monday night.
Tatum made 13 of his 23 field-goal attempts. He added seven assists and six rebounds in the win, which improved Boston’s home record to 5-0 and ended New York’s three-game winning streak.
Jaylen Brown finished with 22 points, six assists and five rebounds for the Celtics, who received 21 points and six rebounds from Kristaps Porzingis.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 26 points. Julius Randle had 25 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Josh Hart (16) and Quentin Grimes (12) also scored in double figures for the Knicks.
New York played without RJ Barrett (migraine), who is averaging a team-high 22.6 points per game this season. Through seven games, he is shooting 48.7 percent from the field, including 50 percent from 3-point range.
Boston’s Jrue Holiday added 14 points, including the 15,000th point of his NBA career. Holiday also had seven rebounds.
The Knicks were within 91-88 following a Brunson 3-pointer with 8:20 to play, but the Celtics responded with an 11-2 run to take a 12-point lead with 5:07 left. Tatum soon followed with back-to-back 3-pointers that extended the gap to 108-92 with 3:30 remaining.
Boston made 19 of its 43 3-point attempts (44.2 percent). New York was 15 of 35 (42.9 percent) from behind the 3-point arc.
The Celtics led 25-24 after one quarter but trailed 53-52 at halftime. New York had an eight-point lead in the second quarter, but Boston closed the half on a 9-2 run. Boston outscored New York 32-23 in the third and led 84-76 entering the final quarter.
It was the second time Boston beat New York this season. The Celtics prevailed 108-104 in the season opener for both teams on Oct. 25. The Knicks won the final three of the teams’ four meetings last season.
–Field Level Media
