The Boston Celtics battled the New York Knicks to a hard-fought win at TD Garden on Monday night to improve to 5-0 on their home court.
The win gave Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla the opportunity to tell reporters about one of his favorite analogies.
“Any fight you’re going to have bruises,” Mazzulla said, per team-provided video. “If you get into a fight and you don’t have any bruises that’s called bullying.
If you get into a fight and you have some, that’s a real fight. So I enjoy those.”
The Celtics trailed the Knicks by one point at the half and then outscored New York by 17 in the second half for a 16-point victory.
“I love games like this because it’s going to reveal who we are and what we’ve been doing and where we need to get better,” Mazzulla said.
“I thought our guys showed great humility and understanding that we didn’t play our best and we were only down one. …
It could have been a lot worse and I thought our guys just stuck with it with the right mindset.”
The Celtics had two stars, Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis, in foul trouble with both players finishing the game with five, while Julius Randle and Josh Hart both finished with four for the Knicks.
Boston shot 93.8% from the free throw line by going 15-for-16 while New York shot 70.8% from the charity line going 17-for-24.
Jaylen Brown went 7-for-18 from the field, including 2-for-9 from beyond the arc for 22 points, and agreed with Mazzulla that playing physical games is good for the team.
“I think that’s going to be our test being able to match teams’ physicality night in and night out,” Brown said, per team-provided video.
“Tonight was a great opportunity to do so and we did. Games like this are fun, toughing it out, using our physicality and figuring it out down the stretch.”
The Celtics have beaten the Knicks twice this season and will face each other two more times before the season is over.
Boston will have to wait until February to square off against New York at Madison Square Garden followed by the season finale between the two at TD Garden in April.
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Former Celtics forward not looking back after awkward Clippers exit
PHILADELPHIA — The Celtics will be seeing a familiar face again this week in Philadelphia when former Boston forward Marcus Morris suits up for his new team.
The veteran was acquired by the 76ers earlier this month from the Clippers along with Robert Covington, KJ Martin and Nicolas Batum in exchange for James Harden and PJ Tucker.
Morris had yet to suit up for the Clippers this season and had played sparingly for the franchise since a surprise late-season benching last April.
Morris did play when injuries hit during the postseason but he was not with the team regularly to start this year before he was dealt to Boston’s rival.
In an interview with MassLive, Morris was blunt when asked about a difficult situation for him in LA over the past six months that saw him constantly in trade rumors.
“Honestly, bro I don’t want to speak on that s***,” Morris told MassLive. “I’m happy to be home in Philly.
I’m trying to get started and help the team win in any capacity and try to reach the goal and winning the championship.”
“I just think, the way the team I was on in previous years … I didn’t feel like I was myself,” Morris said earlier this month.
“I was always on the West Coast. We all know there’s a big difference with East and West.
I know I wasn’t myself; I know I wasn’t half myself. So being able to come home and being able to play in front of different fans, embracing the fans and embracing the fanbase, being able to see my family a lot, it’s going to be a different atmosphere for me.”
Morris played two seasons with the Celtics after the team acquired him for Avery Bradley in July 2017.
He walked in free agency in the summer of 2019 and signed a one-year deal with the Knicks after Boston elected to clear cap room to sign Kemba Walker.
Despite his brief stay in Boston, Morris embraced Jayson Tatum before Wednesday’s game against the 76ers and still holds a strong bond with some members of the team and the city four years later.
“That’s my family,” Morris said. “I had a great time my couple years in Boston. Great time, great fans, great fanbase. I’m talking about the 76ers now though.”
He put up solid numbers with the Clippers last year (11.2 points, 4.0 rebounds per game) but his late season benching has many questioning how much he has left in the tank.
“I wanna see him definitely,” Nurse told reporters last week. “I still think he’s got a spot in the rotation. He of all the people has played the least, right? So it’s just a little trickier with him so I’m just waiting for my moment here to give him a chance to give him a chance to see how he looks out there.”
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