Jaylen Brown scored a season-high 42 points while leading the Boston Celtics to a 123-117 victory over the visiting New York Knicks on Tuesday night.
Brown made 16 of 24 shots from the floor and 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. It was his third game with at least 40 points this season.
New York trailed 119-115 after Mikal Bridges sank a 3-pointer with 45.5 seconds remaining, but the Knicks failed to get any closer.
The Celtics received 22 points and five assists from Derrick White as well as 12 points off the bench from Anfernee Simons. Neemias Queta added eight points and six rebounds as Boston won for the fourth time in five games.
Bridges made a career-high eight 3-pointers and scored a season-high 35 points, while teammate Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 29 points and seven rebounds. Josh Hart added 19 points for the Knicks, who entered the matchup on a four-game winning streak.
The Knicks made 19 of 44 3-point attempts in the loss (43.2%). The Celtics were 13 of 40 (32.5%) from long range.
It was a rough shooting night for New York’s Jalen Brunson, who wound up 6 of 21 from the field and scored 15 points. Brunson entered the contest averaging 28.5 points per game.
The Knicks jumped out to a 17-4 lead and were up 32-21 after 12 minutes. New York made 6 of 13 3-point shots in the quarter.
Boston got within 39-37 after a 12-0 run, capped by a Brown three-point play, and the Celtics took a 47-46 lead — their first advantage of the game — on a Brown dunk with 4:47 remaining in the second quarter.
The Celtics extended their lead to 56-49 on a Payton Pritchard layup, and the hosts led 58-52 at halftime.
Brown scored 18 points in the second quarter, including 10 straight at one point.
Boston outscored New York 36-24 in the third and led 94-76 entering the final quarter. The Celtics closed the third on a 12-0 run.
The Celtics went up 102-87, but New York scored the next 12 points to get within three points on a Bridges 3-pointer with 6:29 left.
