Despite a rough night from beyond the arc as a team, the Boston Celtics had a commanding lead in Game 1 of their 2025 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals second round series with the New York Knicks…until they did not. A sloppier, rushed, and less-connected version of the Celtics took the floor at TD Garden vs. the Knicks, and New York did not hesitate to capitalize on it.
And while the first half of the game for Boston was not all that bad in terms of execution, the level of focus, intensity, and hunger one would expect from a defending champion was not matched from the Knicks by the Celtics. A late effort from Boston forced an extra period, but the momentum had shifted as they let New York believe they could win — and they did, 108-105 to put the Celtics in a 0-1 hole to start the East Semis.
Let’s take a look at the good, the bad, and what is still to be determined by Boston in this series.
The Good
The Celtics came out ready to play and with a clear idea of what they wanted to do, guarding the Knicks well and with energy early. Aggressive defense put several New York players in early foul trouble, even forcing Karl-Anthony Towns to the bench for a long stretch in the game’s second frame. Boston did a good job building up a lead in that stretch into the second half as well, pushing it to as high as 20 points.
The strategy to hack Mitchell Robinson also largely paid off, save getting Luke Kornet into foul trouble himself (more on this later). In the second half, defensive efforts from Derrick White helped stave off the Knicks charge for a bit. But as OG Anunoby and Josh Hart started hitting from 3 midway through the third quarter, Boston’s offensive process began to fall apart.
The Bad
As we noted, the third-quarter collapse for the Celtics on both ends in the midpoint of the third frame is the glaring issue to point to. One-shot possessions of good but not great shots that resulted in misses that put Boston on their heels was the beginning of the end, and too many attempts to hit home runs to make up for it were the nails in the coffin for this game.
As a corollary, the Celtics missing 45 of 60 attempts from deep (and making just 18 assists to their usual 26.1) screams at some very obvious fixes Boston shouldn’t have much trouble addressing. Also of note is the early exits of Kristaps Porzingis and Sam Hauser to illness and a turned ankle, respectively.
What’s To Be Determined
Will the Celtics remember they can pass the ball consistently after a long series against the Orlando Magic in which they couldn’t? Will they approach Game 2 with the urgency it deserves? And when it comes to deploying their hack-a-Mitchell approach, will they be more judicious with spreading those players taking the fouls moving forward?
In a connected issue, how long will Boston be without Porzingis and Hauser? Depth will be important in this series, as will perimeter shooting. For now, the Celtics seem to have enough to more than match the Knicks. But if Jaylen Brown is lacking lift in his jumper and has a night similar to a 1-of-10 outing from 3 and Tatum can’t stop taking ill-advised fadeaways, this series could end up being a lot closer than most of us anticipated.