Thomas scores 21, leads Celtics past Knicks, 100-91
BOSTON (AP) Isaiah Thomas had a pair of key baskets and finished with 21 points, Evan Turner scored 19 and the Boston Celtics won their fourth straight with a 100-91 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday night.
Jae Crowder scored 18 points and Kelly Olynyk added 11 points and nine rebounds for Boston. Thomas added eight rebounds and six assists.
Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 29 points despite shooting just 11 of 26. Kristaps Porzingis had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
New York, which shot just 37.1 percent, lost its fourth straight.
The Celtics opened an 88-78 lead on Turner's driving basket with 6:11 to play, but the Knicks cut it to 90-85 before Thomas had consecutive driving baskets to push the lead back to nine.
Boston pushed its 10-point halftime lead to 59-44 on Crowder's 3-pointer from the left wing 4:11 into the third quarter. The Celtics led 77-65 after three quarters.
Thomas made a behind-the-back pass to Jonas Jerebko, who nailed a 3 from the right wing to cap an 18-6 run that gave Boston a 47-33 edge late in the first half.
The Celtics led 51-41 at halftime.
TIP-INS
Knicks: Porzingis walked to the bench gingerly after taking a charge, but came back. He had X-rays that were negative on a right finger injury in Saturday's loss in Atlanta. . Coach Derek Fisher agreed with Anthony, who recently said the players needed to want to win more. ''For sure,'' Fisher said. ''The players are the ones that have to make the plays. We can create game plans, strategies, coverages, etcetera, but when the game starts it's really those guys that have to get it done.''
Celtics: G Marcus Smart returned and played 13 minutes after missing the previous 18 games with a lower left leg injury. Coach Brad Stevens felt the schedule didn't allow for much 5-on-5 play in practice, so the 6-foot-4 guard needed to get in shape through game action. ''He's going to have to impact the team the best way that he can by defending and by being tough and by being an energy player for the time being,'' Stevens said.
UP NEXT:
Knicks: Host Detroit on Tuesday.
Celtics: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
