Celtics Coach Ime Udoka reflects on loss to RJ Barrett’s buzzer-beater at Madison Square Garden
Boston Celtics and New York Knicks are two mega franchises in the NBA. So the matchup between the two Eastern teams is always intriguing. Their recent fixture also lived up to the expectations as the Knicks erased a massive 25 point deficit and won the game 108-105.
Celtics coach Ime Udoka seemed upset (rightly so) after the game. His observation for the game is directed towards the players’ leadership qualities. He demanded his star players to step up for the team. He also highlighted the lack of mental toughness in the team.
Udoka said, “It is a competitive result, it was not about the last shot but everything leading up to it.” He further added, “We need some leadership, somebody who can calm us down and not gets rattled when everything starts to go little south. Think it snowballs between our guys.”
His intention might be to encourage his players despite the loss or might hint at possible trade in this transfer market. This is Celtics’ 3rd consecutive loss at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was with the Boston Celtics from 2007-10 as an assistant coach. His defensive tactics allowed the Celtics to beat Kobe Bryant and the Lakers for the 2008 NBA Championship.
Both teams entered the game with an identical record of 18-20. The Celtics started with a 9 point lead over the Knicks forcing an early timeout in just the 4th minute of the game. Thibodeau’s advice did little wonders as New Yorkers were still trailing by 7 points at the end of 1st quarter.
The Second Quarter of the game was even worrisome for the home team as the Celtics continued their surge and took a maximum lead of 25 points with just above 3 minutes left in the half. But Knicks managed to end the half with a 63-47 score with help of some missed shots from the Celtics.
The halftime meet worked well for New York Knicks, as they took control of the game from the 3rd quarter, outscoring the Celtics nearly on every possession. Knicks’ efforts finally allowed them to tie the score at 96-96 with 4:04 second on the clock.
This encouraged the Knicks players who then matched Celtics’ scoring and maintained an attainable distance between the two. The game reached its exclamation point when teams were level at 105-105 and just 2.2 seconds remained in the game. The Knicks had possession, which they inbounded from an advanced position.
Burks’ inbound pass found RJ Barrett, who then scored an impressive pull-up 3-pointer for the Knicks to win the game 108-105. Barrett had a tough shooting night scoring just 10 points before the game-winner.
Jason Tatum scored 36 points for the Celtics while Evan Fournier was the top scorer of the game with 41 points for the Knicks.
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