Yahoo Sports 
Celtics come up big in clutch, hold off Knicks for Christmas Day win
The New York Knicks put a charge into the Madison Square Garden faithful on Christmas Day, ripping off a 16-3 run to erase a double-digit deficit and turn their matinee matchup with the Boston Celtics into a tie game heading to the final minute. Unfortunately for the Knicks and their fans, though, the guys in green decided to get Grinchy.
[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball contest now | Free NBA Yahoo Cup entry]
With the score knotted at 112-all after a Carmelo Anthony layup with 1:06 remaining, Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas drove against the defense of Anthony before dropping a pass to center Al Horford, who had a mismatch against Knicks guard Courtney Lee in the post on a switch. Horford turned baseline around Lee and gained the paint, drawing help defense from his former college teammate, New York big man Joakim Noah.
As the Knicks watched Horford move into the lane, Celtics guard Marcus Smart — a thorn in New York’s side all afternoon, on both ends of the floor — slid into an open spot in the far corner. Horford flung the kickout pass past the outstretched arms of Kristaps Porzingis, and Smart rose, fired and splashed a corner three over the late contest of Derrick Rose to put the Celtics up 115-112 with 47.8 seconds remaining.
The Knicks looked to equalize on the other end. Anthony — who’d started slow, but caught fire to score 22 points after intermission — fired a 3 that went awry, but Noah retained possession to give ‘Melo another chance. Celtics stopper Avery Bradley, though, made certain that Anthony didn’t make the most of it:
The 2015-16 All-Defensive First Teamer knifed his active hands into Anthony’s airspace as he attempted to dribble in the corner, dislodging the ball and sending it bouncing to teammate Jae Crowder along the baseline. Noah had to foul, sending Crowder to the free-throw line after Bradley’s game-saving steal.
Crowder made ’em both, and the two teams traded scoring possessions on their next trips, with Anthony hitting a layup and Thomas splitting a pair of freebies. With Boston up 118-114, the Knicks had possession, a chance to cut the deficit to two or one, and the ball in the hands of rising star Porzingis with just under 10 seconds left. But Horford refused to let the sophomore shine in his Christmas debut:
Horford blocked the 7-foot-3 Latvian’s attempt at a quick 2-point jumper with six seconds remaining, snuffing out New York’s last hopes of a comeback and putting the finishing touches on a 119-114 road victory that send Knicks fans at the World’s Most Famous Arena home with coal in their stockings.
[Follow Ball Don’t Lie on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr]
Thomas — who torched the Memphis Grizzlies for 44 points in a comeback last week and who entered Christmas on an absolute tear, averaging 29 points and 6.4 assists per game in eight December contests — led Boston with 27 points on 9-for-23 shooting, four assists and three rebounds. Crowder and reserve big man Kelly Olynyk each added 16 points, and Smart chipped in an efficient and effective 15 points and seven assists for the Celtics, who have won five of their last six to improve to 18-13 and move into third place in the Eastern Conference.
Anthony led the Knicks with 29 points on 9-for-24 shooting with seven rebounds, but saw his streak of four straight 30-point outings on Christmas Day snapped. Rose added 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting with five rebounds and three assists, while Porzingis scored 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting, pulled down 12 rebounds, blocked four shots and notched two steals for the Knicks, who have lost four of six to fall to 16-14, and now sit in fifth place in the East.
Both teams started slowly, as often tends to be the case in 12 p.m. ET tipoffs, with the Knicks taking a 28-22 lead after 12 minutes. The Celtics’ ball and player movement started to take hold in the second quarter, though, as Boston made half of the 14 3-point looks it generated against the Knicks’ lacking defense to take a 56-48 lead into the locker rooms at half.
Boston continued to create clean looks in the third quarter, with coach Brad Stevens opting to downsize with smaller, shooting-heavy lineups that spread out the Knicks defense, forcing rotations and scrambling that resulted in open, in-rhythm shots; Olynyk, in particular, feasted, scoring 10 points in the frame on 5-for-5 shooting. But with Anthony getting hot and Lee knocking down a pair of triples, the Knicks got back within hailing distance, trailing by just six heading into the final frame.
New York couldn’t generate enough stops to get over the hump early in the fourth, though, watching as Thomas, Horford and company led the C’s to a 13-point lead with 4:58 remaining in the fourth. The Knicks made one last push, though, riding improved defensive activity, the penetration of Rose and some knockdown shooting from Porzingis and Anthony to storm all the way back to tie the game at the 1:06 mark … before Boston answered the bell, sending the Knicks to their fourth straight Christmas Day defeat.
More NBA coverage:
– – – – – – –
Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
