By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
An exciting start to a best-of-seven series resulted in the New York Knicks defeating the Boston Celtics, 108-105, in TD Garden on Monday.
After trailing by 20 points in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs presented by Google, the visitors stormed back and clinched a win in overtime.
Pushing his side to a 1-0 lead, British O.G. Anunoby shared a game-high 29 points with teammate Jalen Brunson and was also extremely effective in defense.
“Just forcing him into difficult shots,” the 27-year-old winger talked about guarding Jayson Tatum, “He’s a great player, and he’s going to make some tough ones. I tried to make him uncomfortable and see if he makes the shot.”
Lasting nearly 46 minutes for the team guided by Tom Thibodeau, the native of London piled up four rebounds, three assists, and one steal, in addition to making 10/20 field goals, including six three-pointers.
“I think, collectively, we are all an experienced group. It shows in moments like this. In tough games, we are resilient,” the former NBA champion with the Toronto Raptors added in a postgame press conference.
European teammates, French Pacome Dadiet and German Ariel Hukporti, did not play.
For the C’s, Latvian Kristaps Porzingis started but was limited to just under 13 minutes from an illness.
“We’ll check on him. But obviously, it impacts the game with his ability on both ends of the floor, and it obviously changes sub patterns or changes the things that you’re able to do matchup-wise and play call frequency-wise,” head coach Joe Mazzulla replied to a question about the early exit of Porzingis, “I think we felt it, but it’s no excuse. We had plenty of opportunities to do it, and hopefully he’s ready for Game 2.”
The 29-year-old big ended up with four rebounds and one assist. Portuguese teammate Neemias Queta stayed on the bench.
2025 NBA Playoffs presented by Google
Conference Quarterfinals (best-of-seven)
East
Cleveland Cavaliers – Miami Heat 4-0 (121-100, 121-112, 124-87, 138-83)
Boston Celtics – Orlando Magic 4-1 (103-86, 109-100, 93-95, 107-98, 120-89)
New York Knicks – Detroit Pistons 4-2 (123-112, 94-100, 118-116, 94-93, 103-106, 116-113)
Indiana Pacers – Milwaukee Bucks 4-1 (117-98, 123-115, 101-117, 129-103, 119-118)
West
Oklahoma City Thunder – Memphis Grizzlies 4-0 (131-80, 118-99, 114-108, 117-115)
Houston Rockets – Golden State Warriors 3-4 (85-95, 109-94, 93-104, 106-109, 131-116, 115-107, 89-103)
Los Angeles Lakers – Minnesota Timberwolves 1-4 (95-117, 94-85, 104-116, 113-116, 96-103)
Denver Nuggets – Los Angeles Clippers 4-3 (112-110, 102-105, 83-117, 101-99, 131-115, 105-111, 120-101)
Conference Semifinals (best-of-seven)
East
Cleveland Cavaliers – Indiana Pacers 0-1 (112-121)
Boston Celtics – New York Knicks 0-1 (105-108)
West
Oklahoma City Thunder – Denver Nuggets 0-1 (119-121)
Minnesota Timberwolves – Golden State Warriors 0-0