Finally, the Knicks shut down Boston’s supporting cast.
Friday’s 119-81 Game 6 victory saw the Knicks deliver a complete takedown at Madison Square Garden to overthrow the defending champions.
From the very start, the Celtics’ contributors other than Jaylen Brown — Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Luke Kornet and Payton Pritchard — looked overwhelmed, overmatched and unable to convert on their opportunities.
It led to the Celtics being in a 27-point halftime deficit despite 18 first-half points (7-of-13 shooting) by Brown.
Porzingis, White, Kornet and Pritchard shot just 4-for-17 from the field for a combined 11 points in the first half. And the team that was once mighty beyond the arc during wins in this series shot 4-for-19 from deep in the first two quarters. The quartet started with one make in nine attempts. They eventually finished the game shooting 4-for-14.
The Knicks’ defense finally clamped down and didn’t allow White to score in double figures by the first quarter. Kornet failed to throw a block party (seven rejections in Game 5), Porzingis looked a step slow while battling his undisclosed illness and Pritchard couldn’t rekindle his hot Game 5 shooting night when he recorded 17 points on five made treys.
The game got away from the Celtics fast. And Jayson Tatum wasn’t walking through the door to save the season.
It took six games for the Knicks to hone in on the Celtics’ support cast. But they got the job done when needed it most and it booked the Knicks their first Eastern Conference Finals berth in 25 years.
It was evident early that Game 6 wouldn’t be a good night for the Celtics’ role players.
Kornet, who nearly recorded a triple double (10 points, nine rebounds, seven blocks) in Game 5 was late to rotations. An example was the 7-1 big rotating late on a Josh Hart drive that resulted in an and-1 finish for the Knicks forward to extend the lead to 17 with 5:29 remaining in the second. Kornet started in place of Tatum but was pulled off the floor within the first six minutes after not giving his team much.
White, the Celtics’ steady two-way guard, didn’t score his first field goal till the 8:40 mark of the second quarter. He averaged 22.6 points through the first five games of the series, including a 34-point Game 5 in a heightened role without Tatum. On Friday, he was reduced eights points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Pritchard managed 11 points — most of them in garbage time — after scoring at least 12 points in each game this series. He missed three of four three-pointers after registering at least two in each game, including five made in Games 3 and 5.
And for Porzingis, it looked like his illness got the best of him during the elimination game. He played just 11 minutes and didn’t record a single second in the second half.
