Knicks at Celtics
THE STORY: The Celtics look to take a 2-0 lead over the Knicks in their best-of-7 playoff series Tuesday in Boston as New York is expected to be without Chauncey Billups. The Knicks starting point guard injured his left knee in the final minute of Game 1 on Sunday and did not practice Monday. The Celtics won the opener 87-85 when Ray Allen drained the winning 3-point basket with 11.6 seconds remaining. Boston trailed for most of the second quarter and all of the third before rallying from a 12-point second-half deficit. Carmelo Anthony missed a 3-pointer with two seconds left for the Knicks, who are 0-5 against the Celtics this season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TNT, Comcast Sports New England (Boston), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE CELTICS: Boston didn’t have Shaquille O’Neal (calf), but the Celtics had Jermaine O’Neal healthy and making a major impact. Jermaine O’Neal made all six of his field-goal attempts and had 12 points and four blocked shots. Allen had 24 points as Boston’s Big Three combined for 57 points. Paul Pierce scored 18 points, and Kevin Garnett had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Boston got the pace it prefers against the high-scoring Knicks and held New York’s offense to 34 points on 32.6 percent shooting in the second half. The Celtics received only eight points from the bench and will need more production from Glen Davis, who had two points on 1-of-8 shooting.
ABOUT THE KNICKS: Toney Douglas was being prepared Monday to start in place of Billups, who was in significant pain after Sunday's game. Anthony’s first playoff game as a Knick will be memorable for all the wrong reasons. He sat out nearly the entire first quarter after drawing two fouls in the first 1:28, made only 1-of-11 second-half shots and was called for an offensive foul with 21 seconds left prior to Allen’s decisive basket. He also missed New York’s last shot to complete a subpar 15-point performance. Amar’e Stoudemire was on his game with 28 points and 11 rebounds, though.
WHO'S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Allen made 9-of-15 shots, including three 3-pointers in Game 1. Anthony finished 5-of-18 from the field.
KEY STATISTIC: Boston held New York to 85 points, 21.5 below the Knicks’ season average.
LAST WORD: “Ray’s the hero with the shot. To me, Paul’s the hero with the pass. That’s a great example of not playing hero basketball. Just trusting what we drew up and he made the shot.” – Celtics coach Doc Rivers.