Knicks stun Celtics again, go up 2-0

NBA HIGHLIGHTS

The Knicks’ Mikal Bridges makes the game-winning steal against the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum in the final seconds of Wednesday’s playoff game. Charles Krupa /ap

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The Associated Press

Mikal Bridges sealed another 20-point comeback with his second straight game-ending steal and the New York Knicks stunned the Boston Celtics again Wednesday night, winning 91-90 for an improbable 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Jalen Brunson scored 17 points for New York and made two free throws with 12.7 seconds left for a 91-90 lead. Jayson Tatum then couldn’t get to the rim and Bridges moved in to bat the ball away and recover it.

Bridges also scored all of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. Josh Hart had 23 points and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks, who will host Game 3 on Saturday.

Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 20 points apiece for the Celtics, who were 10 for 40 from 3-point range after going 15 for 60 in Game 1.

Tatum scored 13 points on 5-for-19 shooting for the Celtics, who went more than eight minutes without a field goal in the fourth quarter.

Kristaps Porzingis didn’t start after sitting out the second half of Game 1 with an illness. He came off the bench for just the fifth time in his NBA career and finished with eight points and four rebounds in 14 minutes.

All eyes were on the Celtics’ offense after they missed an NBA-record 45 3-pointers in their Game 1 loss. They went 24 for 54 from 2-point range Wednesday.

Despite their shooting struggles, the Celtics found some traction late in the third quarter, using a 16-6 run — keyed by their effort on the defensive end — to turn a 10-point lead into a 73-53 advantage late in the period.

It was 84-68 after Payton Pritchard’s 3-pointer with 8:40 to play, but the Celtics wouldn’t make another basket until Tatum’s driving dunk with 18.5 seconds remaining.

Thunder 149, Nuggets 106: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points in three quarters and Oklahoma City set league and team records in the win over Denver that tied the Western Conference semifinal series at one game apiece.

Oklahoma City set an NBA playoff record for first-half points with 87, surpassing the 86 scored by the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the NBA Finals in 2017. The Thunder also tied the record for points in any half of a playoff game. Milwaukee had 87 in the second half against Denver in 1978.

The Thunder led 87-56 at halftime.

Gilgeous-Alexander made 11 of 13 field goals, all 11 of his free throws and had eight assists. He led eight players who scored in double figures.

Celtics’ Holiday wins social justice award: Jrue Holiday’s commitment to off-court work continues to be noticed within the NBA. Holiday, the Boston Celtics’ guard, was revealed as the recipient of the league’s Social Justice Champion award for this season. Holiday had also won the league’s sportsmanship award for the second time in his career.

The NBA will donate $100,000 to the Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Impact Fund and he will receive the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy.

The award, the NBA said, pays tribute to those who are “pursuing social justice and advancing Abdul-Jabbar’s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically disadvantaged.”