After a disastrous loss against the Miami Heat on Wednesday, the Boston Celtics are in dire need of a win against the New York Knicks, who are on the longest current losing streak in the NBA at five games.
The Knicks were only able to play ten players on Wednesday, and that might be the case for today as well. Jose Calderon (minor Achilles surgery) and Alexey Shved (broken rib) have been ruled out for the season along with Carmelo Anthony. Tim Hardaway Jr., who was out with a wrist injury on Wednesday, is declared day-to-day, while there is no news on Travis Wear who was out with back problems in the Wednesday game.
Isaiah Thomas feels better
The Celtics got their star point guard Isaiah Thomas back on Wednesday, but it seemed like he was more than rusty, and his contribution hurt rather than help his team. The good news for Boston is that he felt better yesterday, so it might have been good for his health to play some basketball.
The standings in the middle of the Eastern Conference are close, some would say too close for comfort, at least for the currently eighth placed Boston Celtics. They are only one half game ahead of three followers - the Indiana Pacers, the Brooklyn Nets and the Charlotte Hornets, and they are hitting a really rough home stretch, with games against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Charlotte Hornets, the Indiana Pacers, the Milwaukee Bucks (*2), the Toronto Raptors (*2), the Detroit Pistons, and the Cleveland Cavaliers (*2). That's almost solely playoff teams and teams competing with the Celtics for a playoff spot.
This is what makes a win in Madison Square Garden tonight so crucial. They need to come out with urgency, something they failed on Wednesday until the fourth quarter.
Both teams have played catch-up lately
The Celtics have been outscored in the first quarter in each of their last five games, and have had troubles fighting back in all but one, the win against Brooklyn. Almost the same can be said for the Knicks, though, they have fallen behind from the first quarter in their last six games, and only against the San Antonio Spurs did they manage to catch up and win.
Boston has won the two last meetings between the teams, both in February, while New York took the first game of the season in December.