Celtics beat Knicks to remain in first place
NEW YORK -- The Boston Celtics maintained their narrow first-place lead in the Eastern Conference with a 110-94 wire-to-wire win over the New York Knicks on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
Boston leads the second-place Cleveland Cavaliers by one game. The Cavaliers play the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night. If Cleveland wins, it would still trail Boston by a half-game.
The Celtics (50-27) play at Cleveland on Wednesday. The Cavaliers are 2-1 against Boston this season.
The Knicks (29-48) lost their 11th game this season by a margin of 15 points or more.
The blowout allowed Boston coach Brad Stevens to rest his starters in the fourth quarter, including Isaiah Thomas, who led the Celtics with 19 points and six assists in just 23 minutes. Jaylen Brown, filling in for Avery Bradley, scored 16 points and Al Horford added 14 points and seven rebounds.
Courtney Lee paced the Knicks with 16 points and Kristaps Porzingis had 14, but had only one rebound. Carmelo Anthony sat out with back soreness.
Marcus Smart's 3-pointer started a 10-0 run to begin the fourth quarter, giving the Celtics their largest lead, 98-71, to that point.
Boston built an 88-71 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Celtics missed three straight 3-pointers towards the end of the first half, but still maintained a 60-47 lead at the break. Boston led by as much as 60-41, but the Knicks ended the second quarter with a 6-0 run.
A layup from Thomas capped a 7-0 run, giving Boston a 20-9 lead. He scored 10 points in the first quarter, helping Boston take a 34-23 advantage.
NOTES: Knicks G Derrick Rose will miss the rest of the season with a torn meniscus that will require arthroscopic surgery. ... The Knicks were without F Lance Thomas (sore hip) in addition to F Carmelo Anthony (back). ... Boston G Avery Bradley missed his second straight game with a stomach illness. Celtics coach Brad Stevens said he expects Bradley back for a key game against Cleveland on Wednesday. ... Boston's scoring average has risen over the last five seasons, from 91.8 points per game in the 2011-12 season to 107.7 this season. ... The Knicks honored their 1999 Eastern Conference championship team. ... Since the 2000-01 season, the Knicks have won just one playoff series, which is tied with the New Orleans Pelicans for the fewest among any NBA franchise. ... New York hasn't won two straight games since Dec. 20 and 22.