For a January game, it sure felt like April. Maybe even June.
The Knicks and Celtics hooked up last night at the Garden in a physical test of muscle and wills. Front and center was the matchup between Kevin Garnett and Carmelo Anthony, who tried to continue the skirmish and confront the Celtics after Boston’s 102-96 victory was complete.
Was Anthony going after anyone in particular, say, Garnett?
“It was more like 1-on-15,” said one person who witnessed the outburst. “Crazy.”
Publicly, the Celtics stayed mum about Anthony’s tirade.
“No, just basketball, all right?” said Garnett, redirecting the questioning.
When asked to confirm Anthony’s presence, Boston coach Doc Rivers, whose team was without the suspended Rajon Rondo, declined to talk about the alleged incident.
“I’m going to let y’all figure that one out,” Rivers said. “If it was the playoffs, I’d tell on him, since it’s not I’m going to just be quiet.”
His silence spoke volumes.
There was bumping, pushing, shoving, jawing and the slapping away of hands much of the night. Anthony and Garnett earned a double technical with 9:03 left in the fourth quarter. When all the physical play and genealogy questioning cleared, Garnett’s side won the game.
“Heat of the battle,” Garnett said of the on-court stuff. “Guys go back and forth. He’s trying to get his team to go. I’m trying to get my team to go. Both teams are colliding. That’s what makes the Knicks and the Celtics what it is.”
Good, clean, R-rated fun. So Anthony, who shot 6-for-26, was so angry he went toward the Celtics’ locker room, apparently to continue his commentary and lively debate, according to several observers.
“When you’re out there on the floor, everything is high,” said Garnett (19 points, 10 rebounds). “Everything is top notch. That is what it is.”
A Celtics defense that stepped up in the second half and forced the Knicks into season-low 40.8 percent shooting had much to do with the frustration.
“We got into his body. We didn’t give him a lot of space. When he got in the paint, we tried to send another man at him,” said Paul Pierce (23 points) of guarding Anthony. “We tried to give him different looks from the zone, putting a bigger guy on him. That was key, making it tough on him all night.”
Garnett said, “We just tried to put a hand in his face. Melo is such a good scorer that we just tried to slow him down.”
They never let up, especially after halftime when the game evolved into, well, a Knicks-Celtics game.
“This is a new Knicks team that’s playing unbelievable basketball,” Garnett said. “We tried to limit their 3s and be ready, and I thought we did a good job of being ready but attacking them also.”
Any way the Celtics could.
“He plays aggressive defense,” the Knicks’ J.R. Smith said of Garnett. “That’s the way he plays. He was fine.”