Knicks' defense demolishes Celtics again

KNICKS 87, Celtics 71 

Another night, another defensive gem by the New York Knicks.

After holding the Boston Celtics to a then-record low 25 second half points on Saturday in game one, the Knicks broke that record on Tuesday, holding Boston to a new record low, 23 second half points in game two, as New York triumphed 87-71, taking a 2-0 lead in the series.

After trailing Boston 48-42 at the half, the Knicks exploded out of the gates in the third quarter, opening up the quarter on a 20-4 run. It seemed like every shot the Knicks took, even if it was off-balance, the ball found its way through the hoop; while the Celtics once again struggled to find an offensive flow.

Iman Shumpert's back-to-back three-pointers to open the quarter, combined with three consecutive misses by Boston (two of which belonged to Kevin Garnett) was the turning point of this game, as New York knotted it up at 48.

From there everything the Knicks touched turned to gold. Raymond Felton hit a layup, then Tyson Chandler connected on a layup of his own, and Carmelo Anthony nailed a 25-foot three-pointer and a 12-foot jumper to put the Knicks up 60-52. Felton finally forced Boston to call a time out, when he hit a fade away jumper to put the Knicks up 10 with 5:28 to go in the third.

Felton had a huge day offensively. He accounted for six of the Knicks 32 third quarter points; totaling 16 points and seven rebounds in the game. Felton was a force on both ends of the court. When he wasn't putting the ball through the hoop he was making great blocks and coming down with rebounds.

Even Anthony got into the block party. In the fourth quarter, Celtics' forward Paul Pierce was driving to the hoop in single coverage against Jason Kidd. It looked like Pierce would score, but out of nowhere Anthony came and swatted the ball away as Pierce tried to shoot. The ball ended up in the hands of Kidd, who gave it to J.R. Smith, who in turned it into more points for the Knicks.

Pierce was once again bad for Boston. Even though he had 18 points, he turned it over five times, and had a shot blocked. Pierce has turned the ball over 11 times in this series.

In the fourth, the Knicks put in their defensive line-up with Chandler, Kidd and Kenyon Martin, and once again they shut down the Celtics. K-Mart had three blocks in the quarter, while Kidd added another steal. By the mid-way point of the fourth, the Celtics had basically given up and started to plug in their reserves as New York ran away with it 87-71.

The 23 points allowed by the Knicks in the second half, was a franchise record low for points allowed in a half by New York.

Now the attention turns to the Boston Garden, where the Celtics return home a week after the terrorist attack during the Boston Marathon. Emotions are sure to be high at the TD Garden -- the key for the Knicks is to channel that emotion if they want to put a clamp on the Celtics in this series.