Knicks at Celtics, Game 2: Three Stars From Another Comeback

It takes two to make a playoff thing go very, very, very right for the New York Knicks.

May madness has officially swept up Manhattan, as the Knicks own a 2-0 series lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal set with the Boston Celtics after a 91-90 victory on Wednesday night at TD Garden. New York has set a franchise record for most consecutive road postseason wins in a single showing (5) and owns a 2-0 lead through exclusive road victories for the first time since their last run to the NBA Finals in 1999.

A team effort once again paved the way to metropolitan victory, but certain individual efforts went above and beyond.

Honorable Mentions

Jalen Brunson: 17 points, 7 assists
Josh Hart: 23 points (9-of-15 FG), 6 rebounds

3rd Star: Mitchell Robinson

(8 rebounds, 6 points, 3 steals, plus-19)

It feels wrong to leave Hart, the Knicks' leading scorer in Game 2, off this list, but Robinson deserves some special recognition. As the only Knick on the roster who knows how relentlessly cruel things can get in Manhattan, this run seems tailor-made for the center and longest-tenured New Yorker, who posted a packed box score and led the team in plus/minus once again. Honored by the "Bewitch-a-Mitch" strategy that Boston has more or less relied upon, Robinson has lived up to his billing as a literal difference-maker considering he wasn't there for the Knicks' uglier losses to the Celtics earlier this season. At plus-32 through two games, Robinson has the second-best plus/minus of any conference semifinal participant, behind only Oklahoma City superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

2nd Star: Karl-Anthony Towns

(21 points, (9-of-16 FG),17 rebounds)

For the attention his fellow high-profile import has obtained, Towns certainly deserves credit for the way he has stepped up in the Knicks' recent triumphs. Towns is part of a theme of clutch taking many Manhattan forms. In the center's case, Towns helped keep the Knicks afloat when offensive was at a premium in the early stages, picking up a double-double before the first half let out. In the fourth quarter, the Knicks were a sterling plus-17 when Towns was on the floor and he played with a healthier sense of reckless abandon after he was charged with three fouls in Game 1's opening half (three total on Wednesday).

1st Star: Mikal Bridges

(14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals)

Bridges isn't going to win over all his critics in one series, but that's not going to stop him from trying. The former Brooklyn Net initiated a few more X purges with an eerily similar performance, overcoming a tepid start to post a fantastic finish. Bridges followed Game 1's script almost perfectly, closing the C's out with another vital turnover, this one from the arms of Jayson Tatum. After missing each of his first six tries from the field in the first 36 minutes, Bridges used the final dozen to put on an offensive showcase. He became just the third Knicks postseason participant to score at least 14 final frame points without the benefit of a single free throw try (joining Brunson and Allan Houston) as well as the first to pull of the feat while being held scoreless in the openers.

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