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New York Knicks at Boston Celtics
2026-27 · Regular season
Boston Celtics beat New York Knicks 107-103: Jayson Tatum scores 36 with three late buckets as Knicks fall to 0-2
Jayson Tatum scored 36 points, including seven in the final 1:24, as the Celtics held off the Knicks 107-103 in their home opener. Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 and Deuce McBride 20 for New York, which fell to 0-2.
In this article
Jayson Tatum scored 36 points, seven of them in the final 1:24, and the Boston Celtics held off the New York Knicks 107-103 at TD Garden on Friday, October 23. Tatum added 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals in Boston’s home opener, and the Celtics evened their record at 1-1 after an opening loss to Detroit. The Knicks are 0-2.
New York erased most of a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit and got within 99-98 on a Jalen Brunson jumper with 1:41 to play. Tatum answered with a 19-foot jumper, an 18-footer with 49.7 seconds left and a 25-foot three with 30.2 seconds left that made it 106-100.
Video: NBA / X.
How it turned
The first half was close all the way. New York led 27-26 after the first quarter, and Boston took a one-point lead into halftime. The Celtics pulled away in the third, which they won 33-24. Tatum scored 16 points in the quarter, Andre Drummond picked up a technical, and Boston led 83-73 heading to the fourth.
Mitchell Robinson, playing his former team for the first time, caught an alley-oop that made it 91-79 with 8:31 left, Boston’s biggest lead. New York answered with a 12-3 run, capped by a Karl-Anthony Towns tip-in that made it 94-91 at 4:09. Paul George’s 23-foot three restored a 99-93 lead, but Josh Hart hit a three and Brunson scored to set up Tatum’s finish.
Deuce McBride’s three with 13.9 seconds left cut it to 106-103. Payton Pritchard made one of two free throws, and New York did not score again.
The numbers
Tatum shot 14-of-26. Neemias Queta had 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks off the bench, George scored 15 on 6-of-15 shooting and Derrick White added 12 points and 6 assists. Boston turned the ball over 11 times to New York’s 18 and scored 19 points off Knicks turnovers. The game had 12 lead changes.
New York’s side
Towns had 22 points and 10 rebounds on 9-of-13 shooting. OG Anunoby had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, McBride scored 20 off the bench on 6-of-8 from three, and Brunson had 19 on 7-of-17. Hart had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Mikal Bridges went 0-of-8 in 22 minutes and finished without a point. The Knicks went 16-of-40 from three and won the rebounding battle 44-37, but the turnovers cost them.
What’s next
The Knicks host the Orlando Magic on Sunday, October 25, at 7 p.m. ET (2 a.m. Monday Cairo time). The Celtics are off until Monday, October 26, when they host the Chicago Bulls at 7:30 p.m. ET (2:30 a.m. Tuesday Cairo time).
Full box score and play-by-play: Game Center. All-time head-to-head.
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