The last time its oldest pro basketball team made the NBA’s conference finals, New York City was a fundamentally different place. “Friends” was still on the air. Lattes went for $3. The radio was a means of listening to music, and it was dominated by Ja Rule and DMX.
Madison Square Garden will be especially raucous with its New York Knicks vying to reach the penultimate playoff round — something they haven’t done since 2000. Standing in their way are the archrival and defending champion Boston Celtics, looking galvanized after Wednesday’s Game 5 win.
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New York will face the Indiana Pacers if it closes out the series Friday night. Boston will host a suspenseful Game 7 if it staves off elimination yet again.
How to watch Boston Celtics at New York Knicks Game 6
ESPN broadcasts can also be streamed with ESPN+.
Celtics at Knicks Game 6
Knicks lead series 3-2
Series odds: Knicks -275, Celtics +225
New York has now trailed in all five of these matchups, and Wednesday’s deficit proved insurmountable as foul trouble bubbled up. Jalen Brunson fouled out for the first time in his playoff career. Karl-Anthony Towns was limited with another four, and he’s committed four or five fouls in every game this series. Mitchell Robinson was a monster on the glass (six offensive rebounds in 23 minutes), but Boston’s frenetic offense induced switches and then took advantage of the slower center off the dribble.
Mikal Bridges has shot 13-for-45 (28.8 percent) in Beantown. He’s 17-for-31 (54.8 percent) in the Garden. OG Anunoby has similar (if less drastic) splits — 31.7 percent on the road and 45 percent at home. At least one of them must deliver at full capacity for New York to win Game 6.
Josh Hart’s face was bloodied in Boston Wednesday, but he doesn’t carry any injury designation going forward.
The Celtics continue to live by the code of the 3-pointer. They made 22 of them in their Game 5 victory and 20 in the Game 3 win.
Without Jayson Tatum, prolonging the series now falls to three high-volume shooters in Jaylen Brown (17 field goal attempts Wednesday), Payton Pritchard (17 FGA off the bench) and Derrick White (16). Boston seems to be going big in Tatum’s absence; Kristaps Porziņģis has been played off the floor, but Luke Kornet was a momentum-warper with his added responsibilities. In his biggest postseason look to date, the 7-foot-2 former Knick reserve went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field while swatting seven shots.
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The potential Game 7 would go down in Boston on Monday. Eastern Conference finals action begins Wednesday.
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On this day (May 16) in NBA Playoffs history
1999 — Knicks 78, Heat 77: Latrell Sprewell turned over Tim Hardaway. Allan Houston’s 10-foot runner bounced off the rim and went through the hoop. Jeff Van Gundy’s eighth-seeded squad stunned Pat Riley and the No. 1 Heat down in South Beach. From NYT’s Selena Roberts:
“There was the deafening noise, and still Alonzo Mourning’s baritone voice was able to cut through a vibrating Miami Arena as he cried out: ”One stop. One stop.” One surreal instant later, Allan Houston put down a forceful dribble, curled around Dan Majerle as tightly as a stripe on a candy cane and discovered a shaft of light.
With a clear view of the basket, Houston planted a foot on the free-throw line, tilted forward and tossed destiny up in the air. As his 10-foot jumper licked the front of the rim, bounced up and hung as if filled with helium, there dangled Jeff Van Gundy’s job as the Knicks’ head coach, Patrick Ewing’s future and the path of the franchise. Then, gravity brought down the Heat and devastated Coach Pat Riley as Houston’s shot touched the backboard and fell softly into the net with just eight-tenths of a second left.”
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(Photo of OG Anunoby and Derrick White: Elsa / Getty Images)
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