Despite the ejection of Paul Pierce in the third quarter, the Boston Celtics easily dispatched of the New York Knicks 109-93 in a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day matinée special at Madison Square Garden on Monday afternoon. This was the third straight win for the C’s after losing two in-a-row.
Pierce, who scored 10 points, was ejected late in the third quarter when he and Quentin Richardson began jawing each with each other. Both were assessed double-technicals and ejected from the game. At that point, the Celtics were up 17 points. They eventually went up by 19 points but the Pierce ejection left them distracted as the Knicks cut the lead to 7 in the fourth quarter.
Kevin Garnett made sure the Knicks would get no closer as he led the charge for the Celtics as they extended their lead in the fourth quarter.
The last two times these teams faced off, the Celtics embarrassed the Knicks 104-59 on TNT in front of national television audience.
Kendrick Perkins led the Green with a career-high 24 points, 22 of those came in the first half. KG had a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds and had 7 assists as well. Ray Allen chipped in with 17 points and Rajon Rando returned to the starting lineup with 14 points. Rando had missed the previous two games with a lower back injury.
Zach Randolph paced the Knicks with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Jamal Crawford added 22 points while Eddy Curry had 19 points, including 13 from the charity stripe. Nate Robinson came off the bench and gave the Knicks 15 points as well in a losing effort.
Four members of the NFC Champion New York Giants, Plaxico Burress, Steve Smith, R.W. McQuarters and Aaron Ross were on hand to watch the Boston-NY rivalry. They will face off in another Boston-NY rivalry on February 3rd when they will face the AFC Champion New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
The win for the Celtics was their 33rd of the season and their 33-6 record is tops in the NBA. The Celtics return home on Wednesday night to the friendly confines of the T.D. BankNorth Garden to take on the Toronto Raptors. KG’s former team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, comes to Beantown on Friday night.
