With 12.6 offensive rebounds per game, the Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks shared the lead going into Thursday’s rivalry matchup between the two teams. 

They immediately demonstrated their abilities, scoring nine second-chance points in the opening quarter on six offensive rebounds. They scored 20 points in the paint as a result, leading 32–29 going into the second quarter.

Using that momentum as fuel, the visitors put off a 17-0 run to convert a two-point game into a 64-45 lead. Boston’s last 6:37 of the second quarter ended without a field goal. With just 19 points scored in the final 12 minutes before halftime, the home team was behind 69-48 going into halftime.

In the first two quarters, New York pulled down 12 offensive rebounds, which resulted in 17 second-chance points. It didn’t help the C’s cause either that they gave up the ball seven times. The Knicks took advantage of their errors to gain a 12-2 advantage in points off turnovers.

Jalen Brunson led all scorers with eighteen points at the half after shooting seven of thirteen in the first half, including a three-pointer and a kiss to the crowd.

It was more difficult to stop the Knicks from scoring because of New York’s ability to parlay stops, which included taking advantage of Boston’s occasionally careless basketball play. This allowed them to live in transition and naturally enable an even distribution of the scoring load.

In the first half, Donte DiVincenzo scored nine points, Josh Hart scored thirteen, Bojan Bogdanovic scored twelve, and OG Anunoby scored ten. Tatum was the only player for the Celtics to score in double figures at halftime, with 13 points after the first 24 minutes.

In the third frame, there were instances where the Celtics appeared more focused, like as when Tatum sprinted downhill and split Mitchell Robinson and Anunoby to finish a layup off the right side of the glass. However, Boston failed to put together a series of winning plays for almost the whole duration.

As a result, Joe Mazzulla removed the starters with 47.1 seconds remaining in the third quarter and his side behind 98-69, bringing an end to their night before the fourth quarter. They were behind 100–71 going into the last 12 minutes.

Following their second consecutive loss, a 118-109 setback, the Celtics are now halfway through their back-to-back. On Friday night, they will play the Charlotte Hornets at TD Garden. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 EST.