NBA playoffs: Knicks put champs Celtics on brink of elimination as Tatum collapses

Jalen Brunson had 39 points and 12 assists, and the New York Knicks moved a win away from their first Eastern Conference finals appearance in 25 years and pushed the defending champion Boston Celtics to the brink of elimination with a 121-113 victory Monday night in Game 4.

The Celtics will have to make just the 14th comeback from a 3-1 deficit in NBA history to extend their title reign and may have to do it without All-Star Jayson Tatum, who was carried off the court with a leg injury in the final minutes.

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After leading by at least 20 points in the first three games – but blowing the first two of them in Boston – the Celtics had another double-digit lead less than five minutes into this game.

They led 62-51 at halftime, but the Knicks played their starters the entire way in a desperate third quarter in which they outscored the Celtics 37-23 to set up a thrilling final period. “I don’t know,” Brunson said when asked about what had changed in the second half. “Just find a way to make plays and get us going … I was just in the flow.”

Tatum’s three-point play tied it for the final time at 102-all before Anunoby hit a three-pointer and the Knicks later put it away for good with an 11-0 burst that made it 116-104.

Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns each added 23 points and OG Anunoby bounced back from two poor performances by scoring 20 for the Knicks, who can win the series on Wednesday night at Boston. If not, they would come back to Madison Square Garden to try to do it on Friday night.

“They played phenomenal, didn’t quit, they kept fighting, that’s what’s most important whenever we get in a hole – you can’t quit and we showed that,” Brunson said of his teammates.

Tatum scored 42 points, his high in these playoffs, before he was hurt when the Celtics turned the ball over and his leg gave out as he tried to lunge forward toward the loose ball. He immediately grabbed his leg and appeared to be in signficant pain as he was treated by medical staff on court. Tatum was later seen being pushed to the locker room in a wheelchair with his hands over his face.

The Knicks had taken control just before Tatum’s injury in front of a delirious crowd of fans who haven’t seen them play in the conference finals since they lost to Indiana in 2000.

Nobody has come from 3-1 down since Denver did so twice in 2020. It hasn’t happened when a team had to win a true road game since Cleveland rallied past Golden State in the 2016 NBA finals.

Asked what the Knicks need to close out the series in Boston, Brunson was to the point. “We’ve got to focus, that’s a great team over there.”