Former Celtics great Paul Pierce was so confident in his team in Game 2 against the Knicks, he said he would walk to work barefoot “in my robe” if they lost for a second straight game in the second-round series.

Pierce was so dedicated to showing that he was a man of his word that his former Celtics teammate and fellow Basketball Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett appeared to come and check on him while driving by. After Garnett saw Pierce was OK, he just egged him on to keep going while Pierce chuckled:

While Jalen Brunson has typically been the hero late in those games, Mikal Bridges stepped up for the Knicks, scoring all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter to help secure the win. The Knicks have been doing a great job of stymying the Celtics in crunch time.

The Knicks Wednesday came back from yet another 20-point, third-quarter deficit and beat the Celtics, 91-90, to take a 2-0 series lead back to Madison Square Garden Saturday afternoon. This means the defending world champion Boston Celtics have put themselves into a must-win game in the second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs.

The Celtics have dug themselves a hole in their conference semifinal series against the Knicks by failing at the thing they usually do best: shoot the three. Why it matters: At 0-2 in the first-to-four series against New York,