The Boston Celtics are on track to get to the playoffs with one of the top four seeds, thus giving them home-court advantage in the first round. After wrapping up a five-game home stand without a loss, the Celtics displayed why that is so important for them to achieve.
After a clutch jumper from Carmelo Anthony put the New York Knicks up with 21 seconds left in the game, Avery Bradley managed to get a toughly defended layup to fall with about 17 seconds left. The Celtics' 105-104 lead would stand for the rest of regulation.
"I do think that if you're able to win a couple of close games, or able to execute, or able to get stops or whatever the case may be," Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said after game, which was Boston's 13th straight home win, "I think that does build a trust and a belief in that you're going to have a shot. You're at least going to have a shot."
Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas led all players with 32 points and eight assists, shooting nine of 15 from the field, two of five from distance and 12 of 13 from the line. Forward Jae Crowder added 20 points to the winning effort, and guard Evan Turner registered 21 points off the bench.
In third place in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics are 6.5 games off the Cleveland Cavaliers' lead and 4.5 games behind the Toronto Raptors for second place. The Miami Heat are 1.5 behind the Celtics in fourth.
The Celtics are 22-10 when they play at home, but they are 16-15 on the road. Next up for the Celtics is a road game against the Cavs Saturday night, followed by a road and a home game against the Raptors later this month.
Despite the Knicks' struggles this season, they appeared in position to pull off the upset in Boston. They had the lead after every quarter, but they were outscored by seven points in the fourth.
"The fight we put out there, we put ourselves in position to win on the road,'' Anthony said after the game. "You can't ask for anything more than that. We did everything but win the basketball game tonight. I thought we did a lot of great things tonight and put ourselves in position to win the game.''
