Celtics at Knicks | Full Game Highlights | April 9, 2026

It was a little more than 11 months ago. Jason Tatum ruptured his Achilles in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Knicks. New York won that series four games to two. Tonight he is back at the Garden as the Celtics meet the Knicks wrapping up the regular season and it is an important one. Pivotal game. Boston can clinch the two seed with a win. The Knicks are trying to hold off Cleveland for the three seed in the Eastern Conference. So take two and Cato controls it again. That didn't change anything. Tap ball don't lie. Rashid Wallace would like to do that one. Exactly. It's a new one. Tatum drives it. Cato tried to guide it and it's Hart getting it ahead for Bridges. Bridges cuts to the rim and finishes in traffic. In this starting lineup. Hart spin kick Bridges got him. There you go. One on one on an island with White. Bridges backs him down and Bridges creates off the twirl. Bridges is three of three and a takeaway by Tatum. Tatum will take it to the rim and lay it in. Neither one of these teams turns the ball over much. By Hart. High screen Cato. Hart sticks with him. A little bit of help. Spin move. Flip it in and the foul. Rebounds his own miss. White steps into it and it's off the mark. Ananobi couldn't grab it. Cato does. It's an offensive rebound. Another one for Boston. Relocate. Walsh got a three. Nine nine Celtics and Knicks. Ananobi one on one with Hauser. Ananobi hits from the outside. Way too much space there. Hauser just backed off. Gave him too much room. Ananobi too good a shooter to get him down. Tatum makes his move. Flips it up. Thrown down by Cato. Special delivery from Jason Tatum. Kick out. White thought about it. Walsh give it up. Hauser. Air ball. Caught by Cato. Bridges got his hands on it and Cato muscles it through. You're a little stingy. You're not going to get it. Walsh will take it and kick it for White. Shot clock is winding down. Off balance delivery. It goes for Darity. Wanting to see more of that ball and player movement. You saw it right there. Instant offense. It is Peyton Pritchard with the high arcing. 17-11 Celtics in front. Brunson trying to get it going. Turns the corner and lays it in. Put a copyright on that move. Absolutely. There's no small guard better in the paint than Jalen Brunson. Boston enters action number one in points allowed at 106.9 per game. Cato and Towns both going for the ball. Towns felt he was held. Pritchard gets around Towns and the layup goes. So the Celtics get a reload here under three minutes to go in the first. Pritchard. The handles. The spin. The deuce. Because of the way the team competed all year, even with all the gap year noise, he said watching their joy, their edge, the way they kept winning. Missed opportunity. Pritchard extra. Shireman. Bottom. A three. Well, when you miss layups, very often you give up points in transition and Shireman's been another guy who's really stepped up big. Brunson with the answer. A straightaway trade. Shireman is shooting 38 percent from downtown. Stepped in. Got a lot more minutes than expected because of injuries. Oh, Pritchard. Tatum makes his move. Drive and kick. Pritchard open left. Bucket. A three. I mean, the way Jason Tatum is playing is just phenomenal. He is operating as a high-level point guard. Brunson bangs it in from long range. Clarkson in along with Robinson, Ananobi, McBride, and Shireman. Finished for Robinson on a beautiful setup by Clarkson. Clarkson known mainly as a here in another month. Clarkson on the move. Outside Ananobi. Got him. A three. Relocates Ananobi. Put it up for Robinson and he scores on the interior. Wow. Just came back on March the 6th and he looks like the all-star he's always been. Clarkson off the hustle by Robinson. Back into the hands of White with five. Hauser. Oh, finds the cutter. Pritchard to the outside and Shireman. So the Knicks get a reload here with McBride. Step back three. Bottom. At his best. He's a guy who can be instant offense for this team and they want to use these last three games as much as anything to get that guy in rhythm. Pritchard takes it on Shireman and scores. We've had trouble scoring the ball from anywhere lately. Derek White too strong. Tatum couldn't grab it. Pritchard does for the Celtics. Another offensive rebound. Hauser full time. Celtics currently the two seed. The Knicks currently the three seed. A Boston win. They would clinch the two spot with Detroit the number one seed in the East. Towns off one leg. Philly if Embiid can come back off the surgery. I mean there's nothing easy as Tatum makes another great pass. Nine rebounds, three assists to go with his 10 points. And Vujovic with the baby hook. We're down to 4.22 to go. First half. Brunson's the push shot is pure. We are tied at 42. Brunson now with 12 points in 13 minutes. White leaves it for Vujovic. Can't hit the three. Yeah now he's been short on all of his long range shots really since he has come back but he's only back three games. McBride swing. Hart is gonna take it and make it from three point territory. No his foot was on the line. Brunson communicating with Towns. Sets that screen. They get a switch with the big Kato. That means Walsh is dealing with Towns and Towns takes him inside for the bucket and the foul. Fletcher just forces his way to the rim but missed it. Tip ahead for Hart. Now in a race. Adenobe sets the feet. Fire. How long can you be underrated before you're not underrated? I feel like he graduated. Tatum can't hit the three. Kato the offensive board. The putback doesn't go. Tips the ball to himself and he's just tacking on numbers in his box score. San Antonio, Denver they've done a good job. Some people have done a great job with roster construction. Brunson converts from the outside. He's got 16 points to lead. Looks like Shireman will be coming in the game for Walsh. And Walsh with an acrobatic deuce. Bridges one-on-one with Hauser. Bridges forces his way on the baseline. Creates some space for Hart and he sticks it from long range. Brunson gets cut off. Adenobe shooting practice. Bucket. A three. Tatum the head and shoulder fake. Takes it all the way and lays it in. Really nice drive. Keeps the ball moving for Towns. They love this action now. Been running it a lot lately. Swing. Hart. Bullseye. A three. Boston's got the fourth best defense in the league. They don't give up fast break points. They don't give paint points in the paint. They don't give up free throws but you can get threes. They are 26th in three points. Three point makes allowed. Excellent action out of the timeout for Boston. They cut it to seventh. A cut by Hart and the hammer jab. Towns sets the screen. Bounce it. Towns attacking. Banks it in. Pritchard. He wants to dance with Towns. Tatum from the corner. String music. It's a three. There are stories like that all over the NBA. Pritchard. Hits a three. Peyton Pritchard laces it from long range. Picks up his sixth assist and now Pritchard has matched Tatum with 18 of his own. That is a man's jam for Robinson. Tatum got into the landing area on the one but other than that he's done a great job. Brunson works his way in for the bucket. Turnover from Boston. Brunson couldn't make him pay. Tatum with another rebound. Race up the floor. Shireman steps into it. It's money. Ass was behind the backboard. No Vujovic. That's a three. Nikola Vujovic hits from the outside. High screen Vujovic. Pritchard. Got him. Wow. Which they do a lot of times if somebody's hitting the head but that clearly was just a basketball player. Brunson over Shireman for two. Knicks have won five straight here at MSG. Pritchard. It's ridiculous. Peyton Pritchard is taking over. Heart comes out to greet Pritchard. Skip it. Shireman. Splurge. Brunson out high. McBride sets the screen. Brunson penetrates and floats it in. We start the fourth quarter here in the Big Apple. 83-81. Celtics lead the mix. Ian Eagle, Sam Van Guthie, Cassidy Hubbard, the rest of our NBA on front crew. Clarkson ties the game. Vujovic, Hauser, Shireman, and Pritchard. The five on the floor for Boston. White gets around the defender. Kicks it out. Shireman on target. Better bench players is actually in the starting line. Swing it. Tatum. Got him. A three. For the Celtics in the second half after a 5-for-21 first half. And he is just filling up the stat sheet. 21 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists. Clarkson hangs and hits. Celtics are shooting it at 43 percent from the field, 38 percent from three-point territory. Tatum. He loops it in and a foul on Robinson. Earlier today just going through the range of emotions. Man, has he ever represented himself well tonight. Boston equals their largest lead. Clarkson quickly gets the bucket on the other end. Bridges to the corner. Hart. Cha-ching. It's a three. What Joe Mizzou has talked about, right? Tatum watched by Hart. He tried the screen and roll is the setup for Hart. Or tied at 92. White. Pull-up jump is good. And White now getting the assignment on Brunson. Cata shows. Hart drives. Hart scores. Trading baskets back and forth. Pritchard taking it amongst the trees. Cata. He gets the roll. A feathery touch. 96-94 Celtics. Now they got Cata back on Towns. So they'll run the Brunson-Towns pick and roll. And he rocks the rim. Brunson to Towns. Getting whatever they want. We are tied at 96. Shireman. Pull-up puck is pure. 98-96 Celtics. Shireman has gone for 14 points off the bench in 25 minutes of action. Brunson. The jumper from downtown. Under four minutes to play. Cut by Tatum. Defense by Hart. Underneath Pritchard. Swing. Shireman. Come on, Brunson. Brunson against the big. Brunson. It rims in. They grab the number two seed of the Eastern Conference. Cata rolls. He kicks. Shireman. Hot hand. Yes, sir. One-point lead for the Celtics. Under two minutes to go. Whip it inside. Twirl. Bucket for Hart. What a pass there from Jalen Brunson. 20 points now for Josh Hart. 105-104 New York. Tatum to the rim. Flips it up. No good. I think it's a major problem. Shot clock is winding down. Hart. Jumper. Knicks with no center on the floor to switch everything. Pritchard misses from three-point territory. And loose change for Vucevic to cut into the lead. It's three. And right now Brunson just playing keep away with Derek White. Shot clock is down to ten. We're down to 20 seconds left. One possession game. Brunson. Swing. Hart. Hot hand. The Knicks get a gutty win to take the season series against the Boston Celtics. 112-106. I saw you just talking to Josh. He got mobbed by your teammates. Five threes. They were leaving him open earlier in the game and he made them count at the end. What did you think of his performance? I don't know. I don't want to say anything too good about him right now, but he played really well. Okay, Jalen. Best fourth quarter team in the NBA. If it's not Josh, what did you like about how you executed down the stretch? I mean, the way we stayed consistent with everything we were doing. We were fighting. We were staying poised. They kept hitting big shot after big shot. We kept coming back and finding a way. And we got some keep stops when we needed it. And like I said, we just kept finding a way. And this was obviously a playoff-like atmosphere against a team that you could very well see in the postseason cutting into their lead for the two seed. What were you hoping to build heading into the postseason with this win? I mean, when we play against them, the things that they've done the past couple years, they've been great. And so I think whenever we play against them, we're finding a way to just match their intensity, match the way they play. And like I said, they've done a lot of great things over the years. So I mean, everyone looks at them and figures out how we got to beat them. Lastly, this is your first time playing against Jason Tatum since he tore his Achilles right here on this floor. What do you make of just his return and the level of play he's at right now? I mean, it's honestly, how fast he's returned is wild. But after the game, I just say I was happy to see it back, whether him playing well and seeing him on the court. It's a great sight to see. Congrats on the win, Jalen. Thank you. Appreciate it.