Jayson Tatum scored 19 of his 40 points in the third quarter Saturday night for the visiting Boston Celtics, who led wire-to-wire in a 131-104 rout of the New York Knicks.
Starting in place of Kristaps Porzingis (illness), Luke Kornet posted 14 points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season for the Celtics. Payton Pritchard scored 25 points off the bench. Boston won for the fifth time in six games to move 2 1/2 games ahead of the Knicks in the race for the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
Derrick White also had a big third quarter, getting 14 of his 17 points. White and Tatum combined for all of the Celtics’ points in a quarter-ending 26-9 run that extended Boston’s lead to 20 points.
Jaylen Brown finished with 12 points while reserve Neemias Queta added 11 points for the Celtics, who have outscored the Knicks 263-213 in two meetings this season.
Jalen Brunson scored 36 points for the Knicks, who were playing their third game since OG Anunoby to a sprained right ankle. Josh Hart had 17 points Cameron Payne 14 points and Mikal Bridges 11 points.
The Celtics wasted no time taking control by opening the game with a 28-11 run, with Tatum scoring 10 points. The Knicks scored eight of the final 10 points of the quarter and got within nine points three times in the second. Boston then extended its lead to 18 points three times before ending the half with a 61-48 lead.
The Knicks mounted their most serious run over a span of 3:32 in the third, when Brunson and Bridges had five points apiece in a 15-4 spurt that pulled New York within 70-67 on Bridges’ 3-pointer with 6:52 left.
But Tatum and White scored the next seven points to begin the decisive run that ended any hopes of the Knicks’ comeback. Tatum scored the Celtics’ final 10 points of the quarter as Boston went ahead 96-76.
The Knicks got no closer than 17 points in the fourth, when head coach Tom Thibodeau pulled Hart, Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns with 5:29 left. The Celtics went ahead by as many as 35 points at 127-92 on Queta’s dunk with 3:26 remaining.
