BOSTON _ No need to adjust your television screen. Twitter wasn't lying to you, no matter how difficult it is to believe. Yes, the Knicks really, truly did that against the Celtics Wednesday night. They did it with gusto. They even did it with style. And the Celtics, just like pretty much everyone else, didn't see it coming.
In a surprising and spirited display, the Knicks, with the same lineup that started strong but wilted Tuesday against the Blazers _ dominated one of the most hyped teams in the Eastern Conference, 117-109, at TD Garden Arena.
To do it, they had to establish a gigantic lead _ 26 points by the second quarter _ and survive a wild final two minutes. The Celtics clawed back to within three with 30 seconds left before Trey Burke hit a trey from the top of the key to put it away.
In what's already been a trying season, the Knicks (5-14) broke a six-game losing streak on the tail end of a back-to-back. Two games after scoring 31 points off the bench against the Pelicans, Burke helped carry his team again, with a game-high 29 points and 11 assists. Rookie Kevin Knox, in one of his better games, added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Noah Vonleh scored 16 with 10 boards. Kyrie Irving scored 22 for the Celtics (9-9).
What's more, the win made a temporary genius out of David Fizdale, who despite the loss Tuesday, liked what he saw. Before Wednesday, he used six different lineups in the last 18 games. This one included Enes Kanter, who prior to Tuesday hadn't started since Oct. 24, a backcourt of Emmanuel Mudiay and Tim Hardaway Jr., and was the first without a rookie.
Their quick start against Portland paled against their pyrotechnics show in Boston. They not only defeated the Celtics, they did it with such authority and against such lifeless competition, you could have easily been fooled into thinking it was the home team in the midst of a painful rebuild.
The Knicks never took their hand off the throttle. They led 26-18 after a quarter, and while most people who have watched this team this season might have assumed a swoon was on the horizon, it never came.
Irving was held to six points in the first half, the Knicks led 65-49 at the break, and the Celtics entered the tunnel feeling the collective wrath of New England raining down on them.
The Knicks never trailed and had a double-digit lead for nearly all of the second half. Marc Morris' 3-pointer with a little more than two minutes left cut it to nine, and Irving's layup made it 110-103.
"I always feel like if you get off to a good start one game, you try it the next game, so we're going to look at it again," Fizdale said of his lineup.
Coming off a 32-point game against the Blazers, Hardaway continued to build on his strong season, scoring 21 points and being a source of stability for a team sorely in need of it. Mudiay and Hardaway replaced Frank Ntilikina and Damyean Dotson, who started there early in the season.
Before the game, Fizdale praised Hardaway.
"They follow him and they really trust him, that he's coming from a good place," he said. "Tim's just been having a heck of a year, despite our record and all of that. He's really taken a huge jump this year from a player development standpoint and a growth standpoint."
