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NEW YORK -- Based on the way things had already unfolded, perhaps it shouldn't have been surprising that Brandon Bass hit what head coach Doc Rivers deemed the "biggest shot of the game" in the Boston Celtics' 92-86 Game 5 victory over the New York Knicks in their first-round playoff series Wednesday.

Boston had built a 75-60 lead with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, but it then sank into one of its dreaded offensive droughts, as the Knicks clawed back within eight over the next three minutes. The C's were coming off of back-to-back turnovers when Bass took a Terrence Williams pass in the right corner, dribbled hard toward the lane against Tyson Chandler, spun back to his right, and put in a fading bank shot over Chandler's outstretched arm.

The shot restored order for the Celtics, who closed out the Knicks from there and cut New York's series lead to 3-2.

"I thought Brandon Bass -- I thought the bank shot he made was probably the biggest shot of the game, because we were leaking a little oil in that stretch, and that kind of settled us down," Rivers said.

But that shot wasn't the only instance of Bass bailing Boston out on Wednesday.

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NEW YORK -- Boston Celtics reserve guard Jordan Crawford instigated a postgame flare-up by jawing at New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony after Boston's Game 5 triumph over New York on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Crawford could be seen shouting at Anthony as the two teams crossed paths on their way off the floor following Boston's 92-86 win in an Eastern Conference first-round series. Celtics reserve D.J. White initially stepped in to move Crawford along, but tempers flared when Raymond Felton approached in defense of his teammate. Players, coaches and security from both sides stepped in to defuse the situation.

For his part, Anthony said, "I'm not thinking about no Jordan Crawford. Not at this point in time, I'll tell you that. I don't think he deserves for you to be typing [his name] right now."

Anthony had a much-publicized postgame run-in with Kevin Garnett during a regular-season game here in January. Crawford could have stoked that fire with his postgame comments.

Neither Crawford nor White cared to elaborate on the matter, but Terrence Williams, who tried to play peacemaker by bearhugging an angered Felton, downplayed the situation.

"If you watch the replay, I was just the guy to try to separate the teams, I don't know what happened," Williams said. "I was talking to [assistant coach Ty Lue], then I just turned around to see guys pushing and I don't know. I don't know how that started. The good thing is no punches and all that. And we'll see them on Friday."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he didn't see what happened, but wasn't thrilled with it, either (though it did afford him the chance to playfully jab former Knicks teammate -- and occasional pugilist -- John Starks).

"I wasn't happy with it," Rivers said. "[Knicks coach Mike Woodson] wasn't happy with it. Let's play basketball. Let's play real physical basketball and let's walk off the floor. I don't know what happened. I'm glad Starks wasn't there."

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NEW YORK -- To truly understand the significance of Terrence Williams logging valuable (nay, critical) floor time in the Boston Celtics' Game 5 triumph over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, you have to understand just how far he's come since joining the team.

During his Boston debut in late February in Los Angeles, Williams committed a double-dribble, the sort of elementary miscue that typically rears its head in youth basketball games. Fast-forward two months and here is Williams on the NBA's playoff stage, being called upon to be a steadying presence for a Celtics team devoid of a pure ball-handler.

"When I came back from China, I was at home for probably 2½ weeks, I didn't touch a basketball when I was at home," said Williams, the former lottery pick (11th overall, 2009 draft) who signed with the Guangdong Southern Tigers at the start of the 2012-13 season with no viable NBA option.

"Let's be honest, I ran, but I didn't touch a basketball. I don't know if you guys remember, I played in the Lakers game and I double-dribbled because I wasn't used to dribbling the ball again. That's why I carry my ball everywhere now. That's how it happened."

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NEW YORK -- Analysis from the Boston Celtics' 92-86 defeat of the New York Knicks in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference first-round series on Wednesday evening at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks lead the series 3-2:

The nitty gritty: Jeff Green scored a team-high 18 points to pace five Celtics players in double figures, including Jason Terry with 17 points (five 3-pointers) off the bench and Paul Pierce with 16 points after overcoming early struggles. Kevin Garnett finished with 16 points and a team-high 18 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-24 shooting, while Raymond Felton added 21 points, six rebounds and four assists. J.R. Smith, back after a one-game suspension for elbowing Terry in Game 3, was a nonfactor for much of the night (and maybe even a liability) as he missed his first 10 shots. Smith finished with 14 points on 3-of-14 shooting after hitting a trio of late-game triples.

Turning point: In a one-possession game midway through the third quarter, the Celtics embarked on a 16-4 run spanning into the fourth frame. Pierce and Terry hit 3-pointers late in the third as Boston stretched its lead to nine, but the Celtics opened the fourth on a 6-0 burst that culminated with a vicious one-handed flush by Green that pushed the Celtics out front 75-60 with 9:05 to go. A feverish late-game rally saw the Knicks pull within five (88-83) with 65 seconds to play, but Garnett hit a tough jumper to help fend them off.

I'm still standing: The Celtics reserves typically stand until Boston's first made basket of the game. Still standing four-plus minutes in as the Knicks built an 11-0 run, the backups settled for when Brandon Bass -- the early hero of the game for Boston -- made a free throw to break up the shutout with 7:32 to play in the first quarter. The Celtics managed to trim their deficit to two at the end of the frame, and a more inspired second quarter had them up six at halftime as the momentum swung in their favor.

Technical difficulties: Smith and Terry -- involved in the Game 3 dust-up that got Smith ejected and later suspended for Game 4 for a flagrant foul 2 elbow -- renewed pleasantries and were assessed double technicals with 6:45 to play in the game. Earlier in the game, referees initially assessed Kenyon Martin with a flagrant foul for hammering Garnett. Upon video review, it was downgraded to a personal foul.

What it means:
Well, we appear to have a series again. With their backs to the wall after losing the first three games, the Celtics responded with back-to-back wins. As Doc Rivers will certainly point out now, this is as close as a series can be after five games. Boston has to like its chances of evening things up when the series returns to Boston for Game 6 on Friday night at TD Garden. But it's still an uphill climb for the Celtics and one that will require winning in New York again on Sunday if they can force a Game 7. But Boston is playing with renewed confidence after these two wins and has put New York on its heels.

NEW YORK -- Following the advice of veteran center Kenyon Martin to wear funeral attire, the New York Knicks arrived at Madison Square Garden with most players decked out head to toe in black suits before Game 5 of an Eastern Conference first-round series with the Boston Celtics.

Informed of their coordinated efforts to wear all black, Celtics coach Doc Rivers quipped about his own attire, "Me, too."

The Celtics had already downplayed the Knicks' plan earlier in the day at shootaround with Paul Pierce noting, "This is basketball. I'm not going to be dead after the game." And Kevin Garnett said he had not paid any attention to New York's "shenanigans."

Many of the Knicks wore all black to Sunday's Game 4 and the Celtics avoided the sweep with a win at TD Garden. With his team still facing an uphill climb with the Knicks owning a 3-1 series advantage, Rivers said his message to his team was simple.

"Win. Really, I don’t think you need to get deep when you’re down, you just want to make sure everybody wants to win," said Rivers. "Like I said before the last game, seventh games are easy; everybody wants to win a Game 7. I’ve always thought, not everybody wants to win when you’re down 3-0 or 3-1. You just want the right guys to want to win. That’s what we have to be; we’ll be ready."

Asked if he thought any team would rally from a 3-0 hole, Rivers said he wouldn't mind his team being the first.

"I think that would be wonderful," said Rivers. "Someone’s going to do it. And I want it to be us, obviously, since that’s the situation we are in. But someone will do it. I really want to be a part of that."

As for what he's seen on film that has hurt his team, Rivers offered, "The clear thing that is obvious is when we start turning the ball over, and, in that stretch, give up offensive rebounds, then force shots, we usually lose leads or get down further. And that’s been pretty much obvious to anybody this year."

The Boston Celtics visit the New York Knicks on Wednesday night in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference first-round series at Madison Square Garden (7 p.m., TNT). The Knicks lead the series, 3-1. Here's what to watch for:

* WINNING ON THE ROAD: Back in a hostile New York environment, the Celtics know the Knicks will be searching for an early knockout punch on their home turf. "We just have to come out ready to play," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "They are at home, they are going to try to feed off their crowd and all that. But at the end of the day, it's going to be between the lines. And it's going to be what they do, it's not going to be what anybody out in the crowd says or does. It's going to be between the lines." Echoed captain Paul Pierce: "They're going to amped up, their crowd is going to be emotionally into it. They feel like they've got an opportunity here at home, so I think that's going to be the early focus, is to withstand their early run. We know that we're going to take hits, but we've got to be able to hit back in the early stages, and we've got to maintain that through the four quarters."

* J.R. IS BACK: The Celtics took advantage of the absence of J.R. Smith during Sunday's Game 4 victory, but he's back after a one-game suspension for elbowing Jason Terry. Asked what kind of impact he expects Smith's return to have on New York, Terry said, "Hopefully none. If he comes out here and gets hot early, then it's going to be a long night for us. I'm looking forward to the challenge, as are my teammates." Smith, the league's Sixth Man of the Year, is averaging 16.3 points on 43.5 percent shooting in three games this series.

* IGNORE THE NOISE: From Smith's brash prediction that this series would be over if he had played in Game 4, to Kenyon Martin telling his teammates to wear funeral attire, Celtics center Kevin Garnett said he's tried to ignore all the noise. "I have not paid attention to none of the shenanigans," said Garnett. Pierce downplayed Martin's fashion advice, noting, "This is basketball. I'm not going to be dead after the game."

* ONE POSSESSION AT A TIME: Rivers has preached a one-game-at-a-time philosophy after his team lost the first three games. But now he's stressing an even narrower focus: One possession at a time. "Really, I think that's what you should do every game," said Rivers. "Obviously, it's easier to do in the playoffs, because you do have single-game focus. But I do think, to be really great, you have to get to not only one quarter, but one possession at a time. And play forward, and not play in reverse. I think that's where players get lost -- if they have a couple bad possessions and they are thinking about that, or thinking about the last game and the team made a run on them. You can't do that. It's hard, but you just can't. You have to play to the next possession, then the next possession, then the next possession. And that's difficult to do, but it's what you have to do."

BOSTON -- Kevin Garnett probably didn't understand the gravity of his statement. Neither did Paul Pierce.

Not long after Pierce admitted the Celtics sometimes forget about Garnett on the offensive end, Garnett emerged from the training room and stressed that getting shots on offense isn't what's needed from him.

Really?

That is, frankly, ludicrous for a team that's been as anemic on offense as Boston has been for the majority of its Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with the New York Knicks. But for 17 vital minutes of Boston's 97-90 overtime victory in Game 4 on Sunday, it went out the window, as Garnett suddenly emerged as a needed factor on offense and helped propel Boston back into the series.

Garnett finished Sunday's win with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, but seven of those came in the fourth quarter and overtime, amid a stretch when Boston's offense once again imploded and the Knicks rallied from a deficit that was as high as 20.

"That's what Kevin has been bringing us when he's out there, when he's not in foul trouble," Pierce said. "But I thought we did a better job of making an effort to go to him. Sometimes we forget about him in the offense, we get too perimeter-oriented taking a lot of jump shots. But Kevin, he's our bread and butter down in the post and we've got to give it to him and play inside-out. Most of the time when we get the ball to Kevin, good things are going to happen."

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BOSTON -- Brandon Bass fouled out with 4:27 to play in regulation and missed much of the late-game fun. But don't let that diminish his contributions to Boston's riveting 97-90 overtime triumph over the New York Knicks in Game 4 of an Eastern Conference first-round series Sunday at TD Garden.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers shuffled Bass back into the starting lineup Sunday and tasked him with the thankless chore of guarding Carmelo Anthony. While foul trouble limited him to 30 minutes 39 seconds of floor time, Bass did all he could to pester Anthony while on the court.

Anthony finished with a game-high 36 points, but needed 35 shots to get there (missing 25 of them). With Bass at the helm, Boston limited Anthony to 3-of-15 shooting for 16 points in the first half while opening as much as a 19-point lead.

Bass might have missed the final nine minutes as the the Knicks rallied ahead and Boston fought back to win in the extra session, but his teammates showered him with praise for his efforts against Anthony.

"Brandon was the star of the game, as far as I’m concerned," Rivers said. "He just defended and did it over and over and over again. There’s a lot of guys that you want to defend; I don’t know if Carmelo would be the one you would pick. And for Brandon to do that, basically the entire game until he fouled out, was terrific for us. We needed that one guy to be able to do that."

Bass treats his defensive strategy against Anthony like classified information, often smiling and saying he can't reveal his secrets. It's not really a secret; Bass just tries hard to stay in front of Anthony and uses his combination of size and athleticism to make things as difficult as possible.

“I tried to make him work," the soft-spoken Bass said. "It led to us getting the win."

Bass' defensive efforts have floated below the radar this season. According to Synergy Sports data, Bass allowed 0.756 points per play (536 points on 709 plays) and, among all NBA players with at least 475 defended possessions, Bass ranked seventh overall (teammate Avery Bradley topped that list at a minuscule 0.697, but Bass was in the cluster behind him).

Rivers heaped praise on Bass early in the series, suggesting that he played a "perfect" Game 1. With the team in dire need of ballhandling to aid Bradley, the Celtics moved Jason Terry into the starting unit for Game 3 and Bass struggled a bit in a reserve role. Rivers reversed course Sunday and reaped the defensive benefits.

"[Bass] did a great job," Bradley said. "Me, personally, I think we won the game because of Brandon. All credit to Brandon. He played great defense."

What did Bradley think was Bass' secret?

"Just trying to make everything hard on him," he said. "Melo is a great player. That’s all you can do, just try to make everything hard. I feel like Brandon did a great job."

Echoed Kevin Garnett: "Obviously, Melo's going to get a bunch of looks, he's going to get a lot of opportunity at shooting the ball. Guarding a guy who is, if he's not the MVP of the league, is very difficult. He's a handful and I thought BB just did what he could today and I thought he did it consistently."

Read on for more postgame notes, including a Chris Wilcox cameo and Boston's ever-changing guard rotation.

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The Boston Celtics survived a comeback effort by the New York Knicks to prevail in overtime and extend this first-round series to a fifth game. Let's take a look at some of the keys to the outcome of this contest, one that snapped the Celtics' five-game playoff losing streak.

KEY TO THE GAME: C'S CATCH-AND-SHOOT WELL  

The Celtics were finally able to put some points on the board in this series, and their performance in a number of areas contrasted their efforts from earlier in the series. The chart on the right shows the difference between how the Celtics fared on catch-and-shoot shots in the first three games of the series, compared to how they shot in Game 4. Paul Pierce, who was 0-for-12 on catch-and-shoots in the first three games of this series, was 4-for-7 in Game 4, with most of those makes coming early when the Celtics got off to their big lead.

JET THE UNSUNG STAR

Celtics guard Jason Terry scored nine of his 18 points in overtime, making all three of his shots in the extra period. Terry was 6-for-6 from 2-point range in this game, including 4-for-4 in the paint. He was 1-for-4 in the paint in the first three games of this series.

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BOSTON -- Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the New York Knicks 97-90 in overtime during Game 4 of an Eastern Conference first-round series at TD Garden. The Knicks lead the series, 3-1:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Jason Terry, shuffled back to a reserve role, came up with a couple of big shots in overtime while scoring 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go along with four assists. Paul Pierce scored a team-high 29 points on 9-of-20 shooting with eight rebounds and six assists, while Kevin Garnett added 13 points and 17 rebounds. Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 36 points on 10-of-35 shooting, while Raymond Felton willed the Knicks back from a 20-point hole with 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting.

A DOMINANT FIRST HALF ...
The Celtics held a 12-point lead when Jeff Green picked up his third foul with three minutes to play in the first half (joining Garnett on the bench with his third foul). Boston has had a propensity to stumble at the end of quarters, but actually closed out the first half on a 9-0 run that included a deep 3-pointer by Pierce after Avery Bradley swiped an inbounds pass following a Brandon Bass make. The Celtics owned a seemingly safe 54-35 lead at the intermission.

... BUT ANOTHER DREADFUL SECOND HALF
The Celtics were up 14 with 3 1/2 minutes to play in the third quarter when Felton took over. He scored 12 of New York's final 15 points (all but an Iman Shumpert 3-pointer) and his 26-foot heave in the final second of the frame pulled the Knicks within three. Felton finished 5-of-8 shooting with 16 points in the quarter, outscoring Boston (4-of-16 shooting, 14 points).

OOOOOOVERTIME
The Knicks were down five with little more than four minutes to play, but a Shumpert 3-pointer and an Anthony layup tied things up with 3:34 to go. The Knicks squandered multiple opportunities -- including two missed freebies by Anthony -- but Felton hit an 18-foot pull-up with 78 ticks to go. Garnett responded with a 17-footer off a pass from Pierce to even things again with 67 seconds to play. Pierce missed his elbow jumper on Boston's final gasp.

TURNING POINT
Terry broke the game's final tie with a 3-pointer from the left wing in transition to put Boston out front 91-88 with 92 seconds to play. Anthony responded with a fadeaway baseline jumper, but Terry came back with a little fadeaway of his own for a 93-90 lead with 50 seconds to play. Terry then drew a loose-ball foul with 20.4 seconds to go and made his free throws to seal the victory.

OUT OF BASS
Back in the starting lineup and tasked often with defending Anthony, Bass did an excellent job until foul trouble derailed him in the second half. Picking up his fourth foul early on, he was tentative, especially in the fourth quarter when Anthony blew past him for a loud dunk. Bass fouled out with 4:27 to go. He finished with four points and four rebounds over 30:38.

WHAT IT MEANS
The Celtics -- and their veteran core of Pierce and Garnett -- live for at least one more game. Terry, after a disappointing regular season, stepped up with his team's season on the line. This series takes a two-day break before resuming with Game 5 on Wednesday in New York. The Celtics still have an uphill battle, but they showed some mental toughness by fighting back after the Knicks rallied and refused to go out with a sweep on their home turf.

The Boston Celtics host the New York Knicks in Game 4 of an Eastern Conference first-round series on Sunday at TD Garden (1 p.m., ABC). Here's what to watch for:

* PLAYING FOR PRIDE?: Unless the Celtics are to make league history, their fate is sealed being in an 0-3 hole (no team has ever rallied out of it). The question now is whether they'll go down swinging. Coach Doc Rivers knows his team is a prideful group, but admits it also comes down to playing better than what they've shown thus far in this series. "I think, honestly, this group has a lot of pride. But we have to play better with that pride, at the end of the day," said Rivers. "Pride is great; the Knicks, I’m assuming, have pride. But we have to play better. We don’t have a big margin of error. We knew that going into it, and unfortunately we’ve made errors, and to me, at the end of the day, that’s where I go back to the X and O part. We’ve made a lot of errors... And so as a coach, you just keep pushing them to do it right. And it’s hard. Sometimes their pride is what gets in the way. Every single guy wants to win. They want to win so bad, they become an individual. I thought [Game 3] there was some of that as well."

* SPOTLIGHT: TEAM PLAY, ONE GAME: Rivers said his biggest challenge will be reminding his team that they can't win four games without winning one. He knows he has to prevent his players from trying to individually rescue the season when the only thing that would allow for a comeback is a team effort over four individual games. "If you don’t [focus on team basketball], we're going to lose. That’s pretty simple. Now, whether I’m successful at it is a whole different ball game. It’s really important. That may be the challenge for me tomorrow more than anything, because we do have the Jason Terrys on our team that want to win so bad that they may go into a game like, ‘I’m going to win this game tomorrow!’ Yeah, but it better be ‘we’ are going to win this game. That’s important, but it’s hard. That’s why players are so great, every game is a different game."

* NO EASY POINTS: The Knicks have made a lot of tough shots in this series, but they will be playing without one of their top offensive weapons (and tough-shot makers) in JR Smith (suspended for Game 4 after elbowing Jason Terry in Game 3). Rivers said it's all about making the Knicks work for their points. "There’s certain shots that guys take and make, and as a coach, you say, ‘That’s cool,’" said Rivers. "If they can make that all game, then they get to win the game. That’s how you think as a coach. It’s the shots that you don’t want them taking, when they make those, those are the ones that you don’t like. When you see a guy rolling the ball behind the 3-point line, that’s clearly not a shot we chose for them to have... When JR Smith makes a one-legged, twist-and-turn around from 30 feet and it goes in, you go pat him on the butt and say, ‘That was a great shot. Do it again.’ That’s how you think as a coach. Then that’s why the great players are great, because Carmelo [Anthony] can beat you with those, sometimes. Paul Pierce -- you can name the guys. But there’s only one percent in the league that can do that. And you live with that."

* IS THIS IT?: With the Celtics on the brink of elimination, you can't help but wonder if this will be the last time this veteran core -- Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, in particular -- take the floor together at TD Garden. A very uncertain offseason awaits this summer despite much of the team under contract for next season.

BOSTON -- Asked about J.R. Smith's flagrant-2 elbow that floored Jason Terry in the fourth quarter of New York's Game 3 triumph on Friday night at TD Garden, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers paused and seemed a bit emotional as he crafted his words.

"I hate doing it, you know that. I don't know. I wish I was playing. I didn't like that," said a visibly angered Rivers. "[The Knicks were] up. So ... I'm going to stop. I've already given up money."

With the Knicks up 19 with seven minutes to play, Smith seemed aggravated by Terry's attempts to strip the ball near the 3-point line in front of the Boston bench. With Terry crouched and up on his body, Smith appeared to purposely swing his arm, sending Terry backward to the floor with an elbow that connected with his head.

Smith was assessed a flagrant-2, which comes with immediate ejection.

Terry did not make himself available to reporters after the game, but his reaction on the court said it all. He immediately popped off the court and pursued Smith, stopping only when both Jeff Green and Rivers intercepted him.

Smith attempted to defend his actions.

"I was trying to draw the foul," he explained. "[Terry] reached in one time, I thought he was gonna reach in a second time and I was gonna try to get a quick shot off, but they made a call that the refs saw, and there's not really much I can do about it."

Asked if the flagrant-2 was warranted, Smith added: "I don't really know, I'm not really the judge of that. I'm going to let them do what they do. I really try to stay away from getting into it with the officials, so I gotta keep my head. That was a bad basketball play on my behalf, just because I got kicked out of the game and my team needed me. I just have to be ready to play Sunday."

Like with all flagrant fouls, the league will review the tape and can add further punishment, including possible suspension.

Read on for postgame notes, including Rivers' thoughts on his lineup shuffle, Fab Melo's D-League honor and Rivers' take on his $25,000 fine for criticizing officials.

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BOSTON -- Rapid reaction after the New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics 90-76 during Game 3 of an Eastern Conference first-round series at TD Garden. Knicks lead the series, 3-0.

THE NITTY GRITTY
Go ahead and pick your favorite adjective: Pathetic, unsightly, embarrassing? They all work to describe Boston's effort in this one. A so-called "desperate" Celtics team, its season hanging in the balance, shot 35 percent (14 of 40 overall) while mustering a measly 31 first-half points, barely an upgrade over its 49 points worth of total second-half output in the first two games of the series. Jeff Green scored a team-high 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting with nine rebounds, while Kevin Garnett added 12 points and 17 rebounds. Paul Pierce labored through 6-of-15 shooting with five turnovers (Green had the same number of giveaways) for 17 points over 41 minutes. Not even a new-look starting unit with Jason Terry (14 points) was able to wake Boston from its postseason slumber. Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 26 points on 12-of-25 shooting while Raymond Felton continued to toy with Boston, putting up 15 points and 10 assists. JR Smith added 15 points before getting ejected in the fourth quarter (more on that below).

TURNING POINT
It was a one-possession game early in the second quarter before the Knicks embarked on an 8-0 run highlighted by 3-pointers from Pablo Prigioni and Smith (with a Kenyon Martin layup in between). Later in the frame, with Boston's offense sputtering, the Knicks put together an 11-0 burst that featured three straight buckets from Anthony before a Felton 3-pointer pushed the lead to 18 (47-29) with under a minute to play in the half. Boston was booed as it left the court at the intermission.

SMITH EJECTED FOR FLAGRANT-2
Smith floored Terry with an elbow with 7:06 to play in the fourth quarter and was ejected after the foul was classified a flagrant-2. Celtics coach Doc Rivers prevented a potential confrontation, stepping in front of an enraged Terry and bearhugging him as Smith walked away. With the game out of reach, the refs made the easy decision to maintain the flagrant-2 classification (which comes with automatic ejection). At least Game 4 will have one intriguing storyline.

LITTLE VICTORIES
Some of the only cheers from Celtics fans in the second half came when a trio of Knicks fans were booted from the arena early in the fourth quarter. One New York fan in an Anthony jersey blew kisses to the Boston fans applauding his departure. You can do that when your team is up 20 points and about to put a stranglehold on the series.

WHAT IT MEANS
Unless the Celtics plan on making some history (someone get Kevin Millar on the phone!), this series is over as early as Sunday's Game 4 at the Garden (and probably no later than Tuesday's Game 5 in New York if Boston somehow musters the pride to keep its season going). Friday was just an embarrassing effort for a team that pledged to show signs of desperation after two uninspired second-half efforts in New York. Playing their first game at TD Garden in 16 days and in the aftermath of the marathon bombings, the Celtics rarely showed any fight -- something that's dogged them this entire series when adversity bubbles up. There's at least 48 minutes of basketball left in the season, but it's likely the offseason chatter will start to dominate the conversation after a disappointing, injury-plagued 2012-13 season sits on the brink.

The Boston Celtics host the New York Knicks in Game 3 of an Eastern Conference first-round series on Friday night at TD Garden (8 p.m., ESPN). Here's what to watch for:

* NOBODY LOVES RAYMOND: Entering the series, Boston's defensive worry list was topped by the likes of Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith. The one player the Celtics really need to stop at the moment? Raymond Felton. From our friends at Elias Sports Bureau: The Knicks have outscored the Celtics by an average of 22.8 points per 48 minutes with Felton on the floor, but have been outscored by 45.1 points per 48 minutes with Felton on the bench. That 67.9-point swing is the largest for any NBA team with-and-without a particular player on the court in this year’s playoffs. Said Celtics coach Doc Rivers: "He’s killing us. He’s getting into the paint, he’s attacking us... And we have to do a better job on him. I wish I could make a better statement than that, except for, we have to keep him out of the paint."

* CHANGE UP THE HALFTIME SPEECH: No secret here, the Celtics have been excellent for the first 24 minutes of Games 1 and 2 in this series, but have flat out disappeared in the second halves. To hammer that home, The Celtics are shooting 54.2 percent from the field in the first half in this series -- the highest such percentage for any team in this year’s playoffs -- and 22.2 percent in the second half -- the lowest for any team in this postseason, according to Elias. Celtics coach Doc Rivers has noted the trouble doesn't lie solely on the offensive end as both sides of the floor are connected and getting stops will ease some of the offensive struggles for Boston by giving them more transition opportunities.

* COMING HOME: No one knows how Boston will respond to playing in its gym for the first time in 16 days, at least emotionally given that this is its first game in the aftermath of the marathon bombings. But the Celtics have always received a spark from playing at home and absolutely need to feed off the energy in the building. The Knicks will have confidence after winning two games in this building during the regular season. The question is can they get over the mental hurdle of having lost their last eight playoff games on the road. New York's last road win on the road? A victory in Toronto on April 29, 2001, according to Elias.

* NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS: A few more of the stats and nuggets that jumped out from Elias' preview package: The Celtics have scored only 48 points in the second half during the first two games of the series. That is the fewest second-half points scored over any two-game span in NBA playoff history (previous low was 49 points by the Washington Capitols in the 1947 postseason)... In the history of the NBA playoffs, teams that have won the first two games of a best-of-seven series have gone to win the series 94 percent of the time (233 of 248)... In the history of the NBA playoffs, there have been 57 teams that have lost the first two games of a best-of-seven series against an opponent that finished with at least 13 more wins during the regular season, as the Knicks did over the Celtics in 2012-13 (54 to 41). None of those 57 teams came back to win the series.

NEW YORK -- The Celtics have done a solid job defending the 3-point line during the first two games of an Eastern Conference first-round series against the Knicks, but they let up just long enough during Tuesday's Game 2 and it might have ultimately caused them to unravel.

Owning a six-point lead coming out of halftime, the Celtics watched Iman Shumpert connect on a pair of triples over the first 122 seconds of the third quarter to tie the game and swing a pingponging momentum back to New York. The Knicks utilized it to dominate the third quarter, outscoring Boston by 21 in the frame en route to an 87-71 triumph at Madison Square Garden.

"They attacked us and we didn't handle it very well," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "We have to be able to do better. I don't know what we are doing wrong in the beginning of third quarters, but we gave up those two back-to-back 3s, which helped their confidence."

Later Rivers added: "It was our defense in the third quarter, clearly. We gave up 3s that we don't give up in this series. I don't know. We didn't come out with the same mentality we did in the first half. I don't know why and I need to find that out in the next two days."

The Knicks connected on 7 of 19 3-pointers (36.8 percent) on Tuesday, but were a mere 1-of-10 in the second half outside of Shumpert's early outburst. It was enough to help New York build as much as a 16-point lead as Boston struggled mightily to generate its own offense.

"We opened up their 3-point game," said Paul Pierce. "We came out and gave Shumpert those two early 3s ... and we’ve been defending the 3 pretty much well all game, and that was a point of emphasis. We have to do a better job, in that aspect, overall. You have a team that’s shooting 40 percent [and averaging] 85 points -- a lot of things we’re doing well, defensively."

Echoed Courtney Lee: "Those two 3s by Shumpert were huge. It was back-to-back, they tied the game up, and then once it's a game, it's anybody's game when it's tied."

Read on for a few other postgame notes on the bench:

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