As the Celtics found their rhythm over the past two months, they swept through overmatched opponents and avoided potholes. Entering their game against the Knicks on Wednesday, their last loss to a team with a winning percentage currently below .550 came on Nov. 30, against the Pistons.
And this matchup against reeling New York at home seemed an unlikely night for a hiccup. But the NBA can be fickle, and consistency can turn to instability in an instant.
The two areas in which the Celtics have struggled this season — defense and rebounding — continued to be an issue, except this time, they could not be concealed by offense. Boston saw one shot after another thud off the rim, and point guard Isaiah Thomas’s fourth-quarter magic, which was beginning to seem everlasting, lost some shine.
In the final seconds of the Knicks’ 117-106 win, Celtics fans poured out of TD Garden while small pockets of New York fans in the arena’s upper reaches chanted, “Let’s go, Knicks!’’ It was all a somewhat perplexing end, given that New York had lost 10 of its last 12 games and the Celtics had won 13 of 16.
“They just did whatever they wanted, offensively and defensively,’’ Thomas said of the Knicks, “and that was embarrassing for us tonight.’’
Thomas’s final line glowed just as so many of his others have this season. He made 12 of 25 shots, all 10 of his free throws and poured in 39 points. Yet this one was unique because there was no crescendo.
The NBA’s top fourth-quarter player went just 2 of 9 in the final period and did not have an assist. His late-game rallies have become so commonplace that when the Celtics trailed by 10 points in the third quarter, a sports cable news network contacted the team’s public relations staff to request a potential on-court interview with Thomas if he erupted in another comeback win.
But there was no eruption. It is just one game, but moving forward it will be worth monitoring if, at some point, Thomas begins to feel the weight of late-game expectations, or if his teammates find themselves just waiting for him to carry them.
“I can’t make every shot,’’ Thomas said. “But I’m just going to keep going, keep being aggressive, because I know that’s what my team needs. I could have played a lot better in that fourth. I need to lock in and concentrate a lot more, especially when I’m around the basket. Missed a few of those that I usually make.’’
Despite the absences of the 7-foot-1-inch Kristaps Porzingis and the 6-11 Joakim Noah, New York crushed the Celtics by aggressively and relentlessly chasing after missed shots at both ends. The Knicks held a 57-33 rebounding edge.
“We just have to play the right way, play hard, play with a little nasty,’’ said Celtics forward Jae Crowder, “and we never did.’’
The 6-3 Rose had 10 rebounds, three more than anyone on the Celtics. He also poured in 30 points, flashing glimpses of the athleticism that made him an MVP.
“He can still play,’’ Horford said, “and he reminded us of that tonight.’’
Boston shot just 38.5 percent overall and 27.3 percent on 3-pointers, its third-lowest totals of the season in both categories. Horford, who was 2 for 14, said his shots were consistently coming up short because he was not getting his legs into them.
“I didn’t have it,’’ he said, “and that was tough.’’
About 30 minutes before tipoff, the Celtics learned that guard Avery Bradley would miss the game with a sore Achilles’ tendon — a lingering injury that coach Brad Stevens later said could sideline him Saturday against the Trail Blazers, too.
Still, they started quickly, with a crisp offense that was filled with cuts and movement. Boston registered assists on 12 of its first 13 baskets and did not commit a turnover in the opening quarter, when it led by as many as 9 points.
The problem was that they could not play defense or get a rebound, and both of those fundamentals tend to be important.
When Willy Hernangomez converted back-to-back dunks with little resistance midway through the second quarter, giving New York a 48-43 lead, Stevens called timeout and there was even a smattering of boos.
The Celtics trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half before pulling within 97-96 with 7:57 left in the game. But Justin Holiday and Courtney Lee then drilled back-to-back 3-pointers and Rose grabbed an offensive rebound and flipped a putback in over his head, making it 105-96. Boston was never able to recover after that.
“In the second half we were just all over the place and not rebounding,’’ Stevens said. “And we talked about the defensive stuff. We’ve got to defend a lot better and we know that. But all the technical stuff is out the window if you’re not flying around. And we weren’t flying around tonight.’’
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.
