‘It’s going to be a war’: Celtics, Knicks renew long-dormant playoff rivalry

The Celtics and Knicks are two of the NBA s oldest rivals As the only founding members of the league that still play in the same cities they ve been squaring off for nearly years and have done so a total of times They met five times in the playoffs in the s five more from to and three more from to But for the last years the Boston-New York basketball rivalry has been almost exclusively limited to regular-season clashes Since there have been exactly two postseason series between the Celtics and Knicks both in the first round The the majority up-to-date way back in when Boston closed out the tenures of Paul Pierce Kevin Garnett and Doc Rivers by falling to Carmelo Anthony s Knicks in six games Since then the Celtics have faced different teams in the playoffs without seeing their closest geographical foe with New York ranking well behind clubs like the Miami Heat four playoff matchups during that stretch Philadelphia ers three and Milwaukee Bucks three on the list of chief Celtics antagonists That drought eventually will end this week when the Celtics and Knicks meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals their first postseason showdown in years and their first after the opening round since Games is Monday at TD Garden p m TNT It s a great stage for basketball Jaylen Brown commented Just all the history between Boston and New York it s excellent to be able to live or to relive in that So I don t take that for granted You know I think a lot of people will be excited watching this series just because of the history So it s our job to come out and put on a great performance and take care of business but it s definitely something to look back and just enjoy the platform that basketball kind of delivers at this stage in the playoffs Boston versus New York you don t get too much better than that Related Articles Celtics-Knicks preview How Boston New York match up in East semifinals It s been nearly a half-decade since any Boston and New York teams met in the postseason the last such instance coming when the Red Sox hosted the Yankees in the American League wild-card competition Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis who began his career with the Knicks commented the long-held animosity between the two fanbases will add extra juice to the highly anticipated series It s going to be fun Porzingis mentioned It s just going to add more to the whole thing and New York fans are reliably great Boston fans are reliably super-invested and there to endorsement their unit Even between the fanbases it s going to be a war for sure Even the videos that they put out with the fans it s fun and then it makes the rivalry even more fun as a fan and as a participant Whether the matchup will produce much on-court drama remains to be seen Despite the Knicks retooling their roster with the specific goal of challenging the defending champion Celtics Boston dominated the regular-season series winning all four games by an average of points despite having a full-strength starting lineup for just one of them Related Articles Celtics Jrue Holiday cleared to return vs Knicks after three-game absence Celtics-Knicks preview How Boston New York match up in East semifinals Celtics notebook Jaylen Brown Jrue Holiday trending up after injuries Jrue Holiday injury Celtics guard working hard to return for East semis What Celtics are expecting from Knicks in second-round playoff matchup The Celtics tied the single-game NBA record for made -pointers in a - rout of the Knicks on opening night rolled to a - win at Madison Square Garden without starters Porzingis and Jrue Holiday took the third meeting - after leading by as plenty of as points then won the fourth - in overtime with Brown limited to minutes while he nursed an injured knee Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum averaged points while shooting from the field and from three against the Knicks this season routinely tormenting big-ticket offseason additions Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges on the offensive end He was similarly lethal in the Celtics first-round playoff series against Orlando dropping and points in the final three games after returning from a wrist injury Boston is vying to become the NBA s first repeat champion since and the first Celtics association to go back-to-back since the days of Bill Russell and The Knicks who took down a scrappy Detroit Pistons squad in Round are seeking their first trip to the conference finals since I don t know how they feel and if they have this huge amount of pressure Porzingis revealed Honestly just going into the series I believe we re going to be the favorites in betting odds So if anything it s us who have more to lose because we re supposed to win But they re dangerous They re dangerous and they re going in as the underdog and they have the whole New York behind them and they have the capability So it s us that have to be on our A event and have that same hunger we had last year And we re showing it We re not defending what we did last year we re trying to win another championship And that s going to be our mindset going into this and into the future