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Photo: Halley from Boston / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
NBA · REGULAR SEASON · Friday 23 October 2026 · TD Garden, Boston
Celtics 107, Knicks 103
KEY STATS 📊
Jayson Tatum (BOS): 36 points (14 of 26), 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals
Paul George and Neemias Queta (BOS): 15 points each
Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK): 22 points, 10 rebounds
Jalen Brunson (NYK): 19 points on 7 of 17
Miles McBride (NYK): 20 points off the bench, 6 of 8 from 3
Mikal Bridges (NYK): 0 points, 0 of 8
Records: Boston 1-1, New York 0-2
THE STORY 🗞️
BOSTON. The Knicks trailed for the final 22 minutes, clawed back anyway, and got within 99-98 on a Jalen Brunson pull-up with 1:41 left. It looked like another comeback.
Jayson Tatum had other ideas. He scored seven straight Celtics points in the final 100 seconds, two of those buckets with Josh Hart draped all over him, and Boston won 107-103. The defending champions are 0-2.
Tatum finished with 36 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and 25 of the points came after halftime. Brunson went 7 of 17 for 19 after a quiet opener against the Sixers on Tuesday.
Brunson did not sound worried.
"We know what we have to do, and the things I think are glaring to us are controllable."
Jalen Brunson, via the New York Post
THE BRIDGES PROBLEM 🧊
Mikal Bridges went 0 for 8 and sat for the last eight and a half minutes in favor of Miles McBride, who hit six 3s and scored 20. Bridges is 2 for 16 through two games.
Coach Mike Brown said Bridges is getting the looks and has to keep shooting. He put the loss on something else: his team's lack of physicality on both ends.
"You just take your hat off and say, 'Good D, better O,'" Brown said of Tatum. "But that's not why we lost the game."
OUR TAKE 🐶
Two games is nothing, but 0-2 for a champion gets noticed, especially when the second loss comes in Boston. The fix Brown wants (more physicality) is the controllable part Brunson was talking about. Bridges finding his shot is less certain.
Tatum looked like Tatum again. After 13 points on 6 of 23 shooting in the opener at Detroit, this was a big answer.
UP NEXT: Boston host Chicago on Monday 26 October.
HOW TO WATCH 📺: In the UK, every NBA game is on NBA League Pass. We will confirm US channels for Bulls at Celtics in our next Where to Watch post.
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Is it time to worry about the Knicks, or is this an overreaction? Let us know below.
Sources
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