The Boston Celtics (38 - 25) defeated the visiting New York Knicks (25 - 38) 105 - 104, Friday night at TD Garden. This was truly a battle of two teams headed in opposite directions as the Celtics have now won 11 of their last 14 games and five straight, while the Knicks have lost 12 of 14 and three in a row. With this win the Celtics extend their home winning streak to an impressive 13 games and their home record to 22 - 10 overall. Boston has been averaging 112 points per game in its last 12 at home and although came up short of that in this one, mounted an impressive rally to overcome an eight - point deficit with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Celtics were still down by one when they called time - out with 21 seconds left. Avery Bradley then converted a tough, driving lay - up to go up by one with 17 seconds left and ultimately take the win against a stubborn Knicks squad. Isaiah Thomas was a beast for the Celtics as he led the way with a game - high 32 points (9 - 15 FG, 2 - 5 3Pt, 12 - 13 3Pt), along with eight assists, three rebounds and two steals, in 35 minutes. Jae Crowder was solid with 20 points (9 - 19 FG, 1 - 6 3Pt, 1 - 4 FT), eight rebounds and two assists, in 35 minutes, while Evan Turner chipped in 21 points (10 - 19 FG, 1 - 2 FT), eight rebounds and three assists, in 32 minutes off the bench. Boston shot a poor 4 - 20 from distance but managed to hit 45 percent from the field overall. Carmelo Anthony dropped 30 points (13 - 27 FG, 2 - 8 3Pt, 2 - 2 FT), along with seven rebounds, and four assists, in 40 minutes, but it was not enough, as he could not convert his final shot of the game, which would have been for the win. Robin Lopez tallied a double - double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Arron Afflalo chipped in 17 points. The Knicks shot a respectable 39 percent from deep and 45 percent overall, limited their turnovers to 10 and assisted on 22 of their 42 field goals in the game but with the loss fall to 2 - 7 under head coach Kurt Rambis. The Knicks head straight back to New York to host the Pistons on Saturday, while the Celtics head straight to Cleveland to face the Cavs on Saturday.
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