“ Just grumpy '': Mikal Bridges flies game 1 while the Knicks become Celtics

Boston-Drawing 108-105 with three seconds to play in overtime, the Celtics had the chance to equalize match 1 of the eastern conference of the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference. Only, while Derrick White's cross -interior pass in Jaylen Brown sailed the Defense, New York winger Mikal Bridges channeled his interior corner of the NFL.

“I just looked at her eyes,” said Bridges. “I am a footballer.”

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So as soon as the ball found brown, Bridges torn him out of his arms and took A victory With that.

“These are tense games in large scale,” said Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau. “It's a 50-50 ball and go for it. That's what he did. When you try to win an eliminatory match, it's hard to win. You have to play games like that. Your defense, your tenacity, your teamwork is essential in an eliminatory game.”

Desire. This is how the Knicks stole the first match in their second round series.

“Just tenacity,” said Josh Hart, wing of Knicks. “Just grumpy.”

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New York dragged 75-55 with 5:47 to play in the third quarter. All hope has been lost. Jayson Tatum had put Karl-Anthony Towns in a jump-And-Roll mixer of the jump, forcing him to make it trouble. The Celtics hacked Mitchell Robinson, sending him to the Line of the Free throws, where he only made three of the 10 attempts, also leaving the game. The Knicks were looking for answers and found none on the ground.

But they found one in the group.

“We said to ourselves:” Continue to believe, keep fighting, keep staying together and keep spreading “,” said Knicks leader Jalen Brunson, who deleted his path at 23 points on 23 shots. “There would be no 20 points shot to come back. We just had to continue to move from possession in possession.”

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What they did. Especially on the back of Brunson and Og Anunoby, which also scored 29 points, the Knicks closed the third quarter on a 23-12 race, reducing the deficit to an 84-75 manageable entering the fourth. But it is really all those who contributed. Josh Hart embodied this effort in 45 minutes of survey.

“He will find a way to run and do things,” said Brunson, who played 44 minutes. “The way it brings energy is contagious. We feed on its energy, and that has propelled us to come back 20 years.”

True to its form, Anunoby has stripped Tatum halfway through the fourth, slamming at the house a dunk on a par. He left the rest of the regulation to Brunson, who put his cape, arriving as a clutch player of the year.

“It's not about putting the team on my back,” said Brunson. “I have confidence in them, and they trust me. We are going to go there, compete and find the best way to attack each possession.

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“It may seem that I get credit, but it's a credit for them. It's not just me.”

Except when it's. Sometimes the best way to attack each possession is to leave Brunson Cook, and he set 11 consecutive Knicks points to give them a 97-91 lead with 3:28 to play. Boston finally replied, even took an advance of 98-97 a minute later, but the two teams settled at 100-100 in the last seconds. Tatum and Brunson missed games. Brunson was a stray runner who should have found the net.

“He should have won him in the regulations,” joked Hart. “Clutch player of the year for a reason.”

It was not that in overtime. Instead, Anunoby, Bridges and Towns combined for the eight points in New York in the additional context, just enough to hold the champions in title – all thanks to the interception of bridges.

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“We will continue to fight,” said Bridges. “It is who we are. We are going to go as far as the clock does not strike.”

When he did, the Knicks gave the Celtics their first standard deficit since the final of the Eastern Conference in 2023, when they lost a match 7 against Miami Heat. To correspond to this feat, the Knicks know that they must bury this victory quickly, going to match 2, because they know what type of answer they will get from Boston.

“We know that this series will not be easy,” said Hart. “It's a hell of a team.”

“Tonight, we are going to have dinner together, we wake up tomorrow and it's a whole new day,” added Brunson, whose well -used Knicks have a day of rest before tip Wednesday. “Thu 2, 0-0. We have to go there and do the same thing. It is our state of mind. We must empty it as soon as possible.”

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“Of course, winning a match makes you feel good, but just as fast as you win a match, you can lose the next,” said Towns (14 points, 13 rebounds). “If anything, we have shown it in the Pistons series. We have to take advantage of it tonight, but tomorrow we have to come back to business. This team is special, obviously a reigning champion, and they will come back hungry, running at a higher level.”

The Knicks are far from satisfied with this victory. Thibodeau was not satisfied with the 19 offensive rebounds that his team authorized. “We can go even better (in defense),” said Anunoby. And the Celtics missed 45 of their 60 attempts by 3 points. New York knows as well as anyone who does not happen again.

“Some (missed) shots were lucky,” said Towns. “They missed 3S, I think we all know they are doing.”

It was not a victory on the plan. The process for the Celtics – attacking the painting early, opening the offensive late – was the right one, even if they were satisfied with a handful of 3 points when the discs do.

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But the Knicks have their own plan: tenacity and unity. And the talent too.

“This is a very united group, and we know we have everything we have,” said Towns. “Whatever the way the game takes place, we play one for the other. We play for the brother on the left and on the right, so we will leave everything we have on the ground. Certain days, it will not be enough, but we know that if we return to this locker room, we can look at ourselves and know that we have given everything we had.”

“I don't think there is a plan,” said Brunson, “but as long as we hold together, anything is possible.”