Knicks Edge the Celtics at the Garden

By Daniel Feuerstein | New York, NY | April 9th, 2026

The New York Knicks are looking to keep their third-place position in the Eastern Conference standings as they come back to Madison Square Garden to face the Boston Celtics. While this was the night for Jason Tatum’s return from his ruptured Achilles injury, he suffered in the 2024-25 playoffs in the second round at the Garden. The Celtics needed to win this game and clinch second place. But not on this night as the Knicks battled hard and found a way to edge the Celtics by a final score of 112-106.

It was another great game between the Knicks and the Celtics as they battled on the court and tried to add another chapter in the long rival history between Boston and New York City. Both teams showed up and didn’t disappoint. Josh Hart led all scorers with 26 points with five 3pters, while Jalen Brunson had 25 points and 10 rebounds. Jason Tatum led all Celtics scorers with 24 points and 13 rebounds.

First Half: strong start, but the Celtics started to ramp it up

The Knicks began with a 7-0 run. The Celtics started to come back and made several plays, challenging the Knicks. Tatum showed some rust, but once he got going, everything was fine. Mitchell Robinson made a great play by stealing the ball and diving on the court. Saw Deuce McBride at the near side with the pass, then McBride made a hard pass to Jordan Clarkson, and he made a funky movie in midair to bank the ball off glass and in the hoop. As both sides were jockeying for position, Jalen Brunson made a big bucket to cut the deficit to two at the halftime buzzer.

Second Half: Knicks fighting back and finally taking the lead at the finish line

Josh Hart went off with several big three-pointers to give the Knicks the lead back at the start of the third quarter. Jalen Brunson turned it on as well when he started an Alley Oop as he found Robinson at the hoop to finish it off. Then, in the fourth quarter, a big steal by Mikael Bridges as he started the run, and made a big bounce pass in between two defenders and found Hart to jam it down with two hands. Brunson found Hart two more times, converting buckets. A hard pass under the hoop for a layup, then toward the end of the game. Brunson flung the ball to Hart from behind the three-point line and drained it.

KEY STATS
NEW YORK: 43 FOR 80 FG’S, 15 FOR 34 3PTS, 11 FOR 15 FG’S
BOSTON: 38 FOR 84 FG’S, 16 FOR 43 3PTS, 14 FOR 16 FT’S
LARGEST LEAD: KNICKS BY 13 IN THE THIRD QUARTER
MOST POINTS: 31 POINTS BY THE KNICKS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER