Photo by Abbie Parr / AP Photos
Tonight, the Boston Celtics will take on one of their Eastern Conference rivals, the New York Knicks, in Madison Square Garden on National TV.
As the NBA season winds down and with the playoffs beginning in about a week, this matchup will be the final big test for each team as they head into the postseason.
The Celtics (58-20) have the second-place seed in the East locked up. But the Knicks (50-28) need just one more win to secure the third-place seed.
This season, the Celtics have dominated this matchup, going 3-0 and looking for a season sweep tonight. But for my money, the Knicks are the second toughest opponent in the East for the C’s behind Cleveland.
This matchup will give us a good barometer to see where the team is at as they look to defend their NBA Championship.
New York’s star guard Jalen Brunson returned from an injury this weekend and will be the cornerstone of the Knicks’ offense in this upcoming postseason run.
The Celtics, on the other hand, are red hot down the stretch of the season. They’ve won 16 of their last 18 games and look to be in playoff form. This Knicks matchup will be a great test for the Celtics, especially for 6th-man Payton Prichard.
Pritchard, who is set to have a bigger role in this playoff run, will likely spend a lot of time guarding Jalen Brunson. With New York fighting for a higher seed, Brunson will be at the top of his game.
Watch out for New York’s OG Anunoby, who has been lights out for the Knicks the past few weeks. Anunoby has scored 20 or more points in each of the last 10 games, and it will be a tall task for Boston to contain both him and Brunson for all 48 minutes.
