Knicks Star Calls Out 'Unacceptable' Performance

The New York Knicks have struggled against supreme competition this season.

Feb 8, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson talks with New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11), forward Mikal Bridges (25), and guard Josh Hart (3) during a timeout in the third quarter against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

It's not easy beating green and the New York Knicks found that out the hard way on Saturday night.

The Knick were once against silenced amidst a chance to make a statement, as they were summarily bashed by the Boston Celtics in a nationally televised 131-104 disaster. Jayson Tatum scored 40 points in the win, Boston's sixth in the last seven meetings against the Knicks.

"We played fast, we were getting stops, making some key shots ... and somehow let our foot off the gas," point guard/captain Jalen Brunson said in the somber aftermath in video from SNY. "Today as a whole was just unacceptable."

"I think we didn't come out great, we were stagnant," Josh Hart added in another video from SNY. "[Luke] Kornet and [Al] Horford were out there clogging up the paint. We didn't execute."

Saturday marked the first time that the Knicks (34-18) faced the defending champion Celtics since enduring a 23-point loss on opening night back in October. While New York has obviously improved since then, signs of such progress were far too fleeting.

Save for the first five minutes of the third quarter, which featured an 18-6 run that shrank an eternal deficit to three, the Knicks had no response for the 18-time NBA Finals victors. Optimistic Knicks fans could perhaps use the medically absences of OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson as an excuse but Boston exorcised that narrative as well.

Saturday's win was earned without the services of Jrue Holiday while former Knicks franchise face Kristaps Porzingis was a late scratch due to an illness. Another former Knick, Luke Kornet, was brilliant in substitute duty, pairing a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double with three blocks. Kornet also held Karl-Anthony Towns, still laboring from knee soreness, to a pedestrian nine points and boards each.

The Knicks still healthily stand in third place on the Eastern Conference leaderboard, but this latest loss made it downright impossible not to look at the wider picture: though the Knicks conducted themselves well when some of the Western Conference's finest came to visit, they are now 0-5 against the top three teams in the NBA this season (Boston, Cleveland, Oklahoma City).

"We've got a lot of work to do. Simple as that. There's no sugarcoating it. There [are] no moral wins," Towns said, per Chris Herring of ESPN. "If we've got aspirations, which I know we do, then we've got to find ways to win games like tonight. That's a team that's in the race. Great teams, championship teams, they test your discipline. And we've got to work on keeping our discipline for all 48 [minutes]."

The Knicks will face both Boston and Cleveland in their first weekend back from the All-Star break. In the meantime, they briefly hit the road to face the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG/TNT).

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