Recap: Zeller, Turner power Celtics past Knicks

It wasn’t a particularly great game for the Celtics. They came out cold, but Brad Stevens made a lineup adjustment that worked and guys who didn’t play well early stepped up late and the Celtics came out of New York with a 97-89 win.

The first half wasn’t particularly great for Boston. They took 13 3’s and missed all of them. They shot 38% as a whole from the floor, and the Celtics big scorer was Isaiah Thomas mostly because of his ability to get to the line.  Meanwhile, the Knicks used their size to demolish Boston on the boards. Robin Lopez had 9 rebounds in the first half… all of them offensive… to help New York take a 2 point lead into halftime.

The C’s changed their strategy in the second half, relying heavily on Tyler Zeller to combat New York’s size.. and it paid off. Zeller was the C’s best option in the half, scoring on pick-and-roll’s and pick-and-pops early and then backdoor and fast breaks late to put up a team-high 12 second half points. Meanwhile he held Lopez to only 2 second half offensive rebounds.

In the fourth, Kelly Olynyk and Evan Turner joined in the fun. Olynyk shook off some baaaaad early struggles to drop 11 in th 4th while Turner had 6 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. The Knicks made runs, but never could figure out Boston’s new lineup.

The Green

The Celtics abandoned their bombs-away mentality, for once. They found something that worked with a more traditional lineup and stuck to it.

Zeller was great: 16 points (8-13 fg), 10 rebounds (7 offensive).

Tyler Zeller logged a dbl-dbl. Stevens says, “He has sacrificed quite a bit throughout the whole season for our team. I really trust him.”

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 3, 2016

Jae Crowder: 16 points (6-10 fg, 1-4 3pt), 5 rebounds, 1 steal     

The Gross

This is going to sound weird for me to say after telling Sully to get into the post more often, but posting up Porzingis wasn’t the best idea tonight. He was 2-6 for 4 points. Avery Bradley was off tonight: 3-13 shooting.  

The Greenlights

Smart to Zeller

ET hits back to back shots  

Zeller fastbreak dunk

Tyler Zeller with the fast break jam! This 7-footer can run the floor! pic.twitter.com/drfsR0o0M4

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 3, 2016

The Grid

Points in the Paint: Celtics 58, Knicks 28
Second Chance Points: Celtics 10, Knicks 22
Fastbreak Points: Celtics 17, Knicks 6

With #Celtics win, #Heat loss, tonight, C’s move into tie for third place in Eastern Conference playoff standings.

— Scott Souza (@Scott_Souza) February 3, 2016

Box Score