NBA Game of the Week: Boston Celtics vs. New York Knicks
Tipping off at 7:30 pm on Jan. 26 from TD Garden, the Boston Celtics will be facing the New York Knicks.
The Knicks come into this game losing their last four games (pending the Cleveland game), so they definitely could use a win on Thursday. The 25-23 roster ranks fourth in the Atlantic Division.
The big three of Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett are leading the team in most major categories as expected and they are going to be needed against this strong Celtics roster.
Injury-wise, the Knicks will be without center Mitchell Robinson who recently underwent thumb surgery and will be out for at least three weeks. The other injury for the Knicks is point guard Isiah Quickley is another question mark as he is considered day to day.
The Celtics come into this game after recently snapping a nine game winning streak with a loss to the Orlando Magic.
The playoff hopeful team is currently 35-13 at the time of writing which places them at the top of the Atlantic Division.
This season the Celtics are being led by Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart as their core three of the roster. Tatum is averaging 31 points per game this season leading the team with Brown not too far behind averaging 26.9 points per game.
Injuries are hitting Boston a bit harder than they are hitting New York with Smart and Brown on the injury report as well as Al Horford and Malcom Brogdon. It is uncertain whether any of these four players will be playing on Thursday.
If all four do not play that means the Celtics will be without their starting point guard, shooting guard and power forward, along with their backup point guard.
There will be an immense amount of stress and spotlight being put on Tatum as the Knicks will likely attempt to put their best resources into locking down the former all-star.
With the reinforcements and starpower looking low for Boston, the Knicks will look to spread the floor with their top players and take advantage of back ups who could be forced to see more minutes in this game.
Even if the Celtics do end up decimated with injuries for this matchup, do not be surprised if Tatum is able to put the team on his back and have a monster game.
In the past five matchups between these two teams, the Celtics have won three out of the five.The game will be broadcasted live on TNT with tickets as low as $80 according to ESPN.
Joey David is a junior majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, please email jtd5508@psu.edu.
