I rarely say something like this but it's too bad that there was a Bruins-Rangers game at the same exact time not to mention a day full of great college basketball games because today's Celtics-Knicks game was a wildly entertaining experience.
Boston (19-17) won its fourth straight, 115-111 in overtime against New York (18-19) at TD Garden.
It was all thanks to Rajon Rondo's one of a kind ability (18 points, 17 rebounds, 20 assists; his 17th triple-double all-time and second in his last three games) as he turned in an all-time classic performance in his career. He's only the third player (Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain) to have 15+ points, 20+ assists and 15+ rebounds in a single game. He's also the third point guard in the last 25 years (Jason Kidd, Magic Johnson) to have 15+ points, 15+ assists and 15+ rebounds. It was also the fifth game in a row that he's had 10+ assists; the longest stretch since he had six in a row in 2010. In short, maybe the Celtics shouldn't trade this guy. He seems decent.
Paul Pierce notched a season-high 34 points and seven rebounds while Kevin Garnett (18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals), Brandon Bass (18 points, 4 blocks) and Ray Allen (12 points, 4 steals) joined Rondo in double-figures.
Pierce was the goat then the hero late in the fourth as he missed a contested jumper when they were down one (101-100) but sent it to overtime with his tying 3-pointer. Carmelo Anthony (25 points, 7 rebounds) missed a chance to win it at the buzzer than he no-showed overtime which is the typical fraud contributions you can expect from him.
The ghost of Amare Stoudemire had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Jeremy Lin added 14 points, Tyson Chandler grabbed 13 rebounds while Iman Shumpert and Steve Novak scored 14 off the bench for the Knicks.
Turnovers were the difference as New York coughed it up 22 times which led to 23 points for Boston. The Celtics also had nine more points in the paint (21-12).
The Knicks have been a much better team since Lin was inserted into the starting lineup but the Celtics have won six out of the last seven against them dating back to last season's playoffs. Boston is 2-1 against New York this season and all three contests were thrillers. Therefore circle April 17 on your calender since the C's go to Madison Square Garden that night for the final regular season meeting.
Boston concludes this three-game homestand on Tuesday as the sneaky good Houston Rockets (21-17) visit for their only matchup this season. It's hard to explain how the Rockets are doing that well especially since I don't think I've seen one of their games but you know that Kevin Martin is a solid NBA scorer, Kyle Lowry is a good point guard and they have depth. Oh and by the way Kevin McHale is their head coach.
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