The Boston Celtics defeated the New York Knicks 116-102 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night to record their eighth straight win of the season. This gives Boston an eight-game lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are now in second place in the Eastern Conference.
That is a greater difference than the seven games separating the eighth-place Phoenix Suns from the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves. But the Celtics claimed they have tougher standards to meet rather than celebrating their league-leading performance through the first two thirds of the season.
“However, I can only say that we’re still playing excellent basketball. We’re sincerely attempting to play the correct game. I believe that Joe Mazzulla, the coach of the Celtics, is pushing us to keep improving. We’re attempting to do that because this is the part of the season where we can really push it to the next level.”
When asked what another level looks like for a team like the Celtics, who according to ESPN Stats & Information have the best record in the league (45-12), a commanding lead over the rest of the conference, and are among just six teams since 1996–97 to have a net rating above 10 points per 100 possessions (10.5, to be exact), Horford grinned.
He remarked, “That’s a really good question,
The Celtics have essentially simply continued winning. No matter who has been available, Boston has been able to produce victories in an Eastern Conference that, as Horford mentioned, has been plagued by injuries to almost every club behind them. The Celtics’ victory over the Knicks on Saturday was not only their eighth straight, but also their ninth in their last 11 games and their 13th in their previous 15 meetings.
Through three quarters, the Celtics shot an impressive 80% from 2-point range (24-for-30) against the Knicks, a team still without its starting frontcourt of Julius Randle (shoulder), Mitchell Robinson (ankle), and OG Anunoby (elbow).
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