Knicks takeaways from Saturday's 99-75 loss to Celtics, including nightmarish second half

Facing the Boston Celtics for the second time in three days, the Knicks came out flat in a 99-75 loss on Saturday night.

Here are the key takeaways …

- With Evan Fournier, Kemba Walker, and Nerlens Noel all out, the Knicks started Alec Burks, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson.

- Both teams traded buckets in the opening minutes, with Quickley and Burks knocking down threes for the Knicks. Quickley hit his second three not long after, putting the Knicks up 11-8 midway through the quarter. On the other side of a TV timeout, Barrett—Thursday’s hero – started cooking from deep, knocking down a pair of threes to put New York up by six.

The Knicks took a 26-21 lead into the second, with Barrett leading the way with 10 points while Quickley poured in nine.

- Quentin Grimes knocked down a three early in the second to put the Knicks up by 10, as they hit eight of their first 13 three-point attempts on the night. The officials were letting both sides play physically in the first half, as things started to get a little chippy. The Celtics fought their way back, tying the game with six minutes to go in the half and then taking a four-point lead in the half’s final minutes.

A Robinson putback at the buzzer made it a 44-42 Celtics lead at the half, as the Knicks shot a sloppy 3-for-10 as a team from the free-throw line. Quickley had 12 points at the break while Barrett stayed put at 10 points after not scoring in the second. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Josh Richardson all had nine points for Boston.

- The Celtics quickly pushed their lead to double digits early in the third, as the Knicks went cold from the floor. Barrett picked up his first points since the first quarter, but the Celtics' lead continued to stay in double digits.

The third quarter was a nightmare for the Knicks, as Boston outscored them 32-18. Quickley did his part to try to keep New York in the game, adding six points in the quarter, but the Knicks were down by 16 points by the end of the quarter.

- Within the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, the Celtics' lead had ballooned to 22 points, and the Knicks were never able to make it a close game. The Knicks scored just 33 points as a team in the second half, shooting just 36.7 percent from the floor as a team for the night.

Barrett led the Knicks in scoring with 19 points, while Randle struggled with 13 points on just 6-of-19 shooting. Meanwhile, Brown carried the load for Boston with his first career triple-double, going for 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. 

Highlights

What's next

The Knicks are back home on Monday night, when they welcome the San Antonio Spurs to The Garden.