NBA Playoffs 2013, Knicks vs. Celtics: New York holds off Boston’s comeback, wins in 6

This Celtics team wasn’t great, even when it was healthy, finishing the regular season with a 42-40 record after starting the year 20-23 with Rondo, but a fully healthy Rondo and a deeper bench might be enough for one last playoff run. And as recently as earlier this week, Pierce was saying he expected to play in 2013-14.

The more realistic options probably involve one or both of Garnett and Pierce retiring. And there’s plenty of smoke on both fronts, and especially around the idea that their fates are linked.

Rivers spoke of Garnett in the past tense, and then quickly reversed himself saying he was only talking about this year when he said, “I really didn’t want him to go out that way on our court. I just didn’t want it. He is a winner. The best that I’ve seen.”

Danny Ainge has tried to trade just about everybody on the roster over the years and there’s no telling what he’ll do this offseason. Team sources said they didn’t know which way he would go and they were hesitant to offer any predictions one way or the other. If there’s value to be had, he’ll likely pull the trigger but that’s been the case since the 2010 season and he hasn’t yet.

One thing that does seem clear is that the fates of Pierce and KG are intertwined. If Garnett does retire, or if they can convince him to waive his no-trade clause, then it might make sense to bid Pierce farewell. If they decide to part ways with their captain then that might make the decision easier for Garnett.

“Well, one of the big reasons I came here was because of Paul,” Garnett said. “Obviously you know you want to be in a situation where it’s better, want to make sure I can always help the team, want to be in position to where I’m giving something. I demand a lot out of myself, both physically and from a skill level. I’ll be honest, or I’ll be lying to you if I said Paul didn’t play into that.”

Translated that means he won’t want to be part of a rebuilding project and, just as importantly, he won’t leave Pierce behind either. Asked about his future, Pierce also deferred to the great unknown, but he did make it clear he wants to keep playing.

“That’s a question for Danny Ainge and his team to figure out,” he said. “I have no idea.”

What is clear is that the Celtics can’t continue with so much on Pierce and Garnett. That’s not new. They tried to do that in the offseason, but once again it came down to the two old legends when Rondo got hurt. It should also be said that the mix wasn’t working even when Rondo was healthy. Something has to change even if they do all come back, which is also a possibility.

“We need more,” Rivers said. “I need that little girl on the commercials that says, ‘I need more, I need more.’ Because we need more and we do. The key is for us, do you want to take away to get more. That will be a decision that they make later.”

Honestly, it wasn’t fair to either of them, particularly Pierce who looked like a shell of himself going 4-for-18 with five turnovers.

“I’m down at times during the game because I’m thinking about Paul’s emotions because it’s not the game he wanted,” Rivers said. “And you’re trying to coach the game.

“It is an extra layer with them. We don’t know how many more years we’re going to have them period, in the league. You just want it to always be perfect for them and as a coach you want to protect that. Tonight I just didn’t.”

Asked point blank if he’d be back next season, Rivers said, “I don’t know. I don’t know that right now. I can’t make that decision. I’m under contract and we’ll see. Honestly, I just can’t even think about that right now. I’m not leaning that way, I can tell you that. If I told you right now, I’m coming back. I need to just detox.”

• Z-Bo and Griffin wrestle again

• Stephen Curry’s 10 best shots of the playoffs

The former was Rivers’ first answer, and refrain, when asked about his offseason plans. He told reporters he would need to take at least a week to decompress and get away from the game. “I immerse myself, almost to a fault. I don’t even know what you do. Sit and watch cartoons or something,” Rivers said. Then, when asked directly about whether he would coach the Celtics next year: “I don’t know. I don’t know that right now. I can’t make that decision right now.”

But when pressed on the topic, Rivers relented a little. “I’m not leaning that way,” he said, meaning that he isn’t thinking he’s leaving. “If I told you right now, I’m coming back.”

The final score on Friday night’s Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals was Knicks 88, Celtics 80. The path to it was not nearly so simple.

Just 2:42 later, the Knicks led by seven. An unfathomable 19-0 run came to pass. The Celtics gave those fans one more great moment in the Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce era, and hope for a full resurrection from a 3-0 hole in the series.

Blame the black suits. Blame an offense that’s stagnated rapidly. Whatever it is, the New York Knicks have seen a 3-0 series that seemed like it would be a laugher deteriorate into a 3-2 series, and now they’re heading up to Boston for Game 6, hoping to avoid a decisive Game 7.

The Knicks wore black clothes, because it was the Celtics’ funeral! It wasn’t, and Jordan Crawford said a mean thing about sex. The storylines and obvious enmity between these teams is enough reason for Game 6 to be must-watch, but the story of whether the Knicks can rediscover their elite offense after a pair of hideously ineffective performances -- or whether they keep the Celtics from another uncharacteristically strong shooting display -- will decide whether or not this one will come back to Madison Square Garden. The specter of the Knicks becoming the first team in NBA history to blow such a commanding lead is definitely looming.

However, if you’re one of those who thinks the result of the game was determined by how the teams played between the lines, there are even more problems, as the Knicks have become addicted to one-on-one scoring:

Seth Rosenthal of Posting and Toasting went into detail in his postgame recap:

Melo’s lack of playoff success is well known at this point.

But it’s been up and down for Anthony through five games, particularly in both Knicks losses. In Game 4 Melo finished with 36 points, but did so on just 10-of-35 shooting from the field, and Game 5 Wednesday wasn’t much better. Anthony scored 22 points on 8-of-24 shooting, with more than half his points (12) coming in the first quarter.

Garnett finished with 16 points and 18 rebounds, in the process reminding everyone that it wasn’t too long ago that he was one of the elite players in all the NBA. Garnett led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in both 2008 and 2010, both times just one game short of winning the title.

Things are different in 2013 and the 17-year veteran isn’t quite the player he once was. However, this series has proven that at his best, Garnett is still one of the best power forwards in the game.

“That’s amazing, man,” Bradley said. “He’s an amazing player. He’s just amazing.” Then he laughed. “That’s all you can say.”

“I was not happy with it, Woody wasn’t happy with it,” Rivers said. “We don’t need any of that crap.”

Now, New York must head to Boston forced to win a Game 6 on the road, or fear returning to New York with the series on the line in Game 7.

The Knicks could also return to New York with a bit of injury uncertainty, as Anthony suffered what appeared to be a minor shoulder injury in the fourth quarter. On the play, Anthony got tangled up with Garnett on defense and quickly grabbed his left shoulder. He briefly went to the bench before returning to the court without missing any game action.

Anthony’s health is imperative as the Knicks move forward in Game 5 and potentially beyond in this series. The Knicks led Boston 3-0 before a Game 4 loss Sunday and now are in danger of losing a second straight game, and their first at Madison Square Garden in this postseason. A potential Game 6 would be Friday night in Boston.

Anthony had 16 points at the time of the injury, with 12 coming in the first quarter.

So will the Knicks end it in Game 5, or will the Celtics pull off the upset and send it back to Boston for a Game 6? Here are three key questions heading into the game.

With Smith out in Game 4, Anthony seemed to be pressing a bit, resorting to isolation sets even more than usual. ESPN New York’s Ian Begley noted that Anthony was in isolation 49 percent of the time in the game, which led to more tough shots and a lot of misses. Smith’s presence in the lineup should help take some scoring pressure off Anthony and allow for more efficient offense.

Green agreed.

“I think he was just being aggressive, doing what he do,” said the Celtics forward, who watched as Anthony got the entire Boston frontline in foul trouble to score 16 of his 36 points at the foul line. “I think he was just playing his game. If he was trying to compensate for J.R., I don’t know.”

The result of the play on the Knicks’ end was a suspension for the Sixth Man of the Year. But for Boston, the play seemingly woke Terry from a postseason slumber.

“God told me to keep fighting,” Terry said in his postgame TV interview.

Many of their fans didn’t feel that way, what with all the empty seats at tipoff and all those in blue and orange who infiltrated the Garden. Even if you didn’t really believe, this would have been an unconscionable way to go out, getting swept on their home court with the organist trying desperately to drown out the chants and jeers of thousands of Knicks fans.

Terry was so gassed up he scored their final nine points in overtime that finally pushed the Celtics over the top, 97-90. This was the big-game JET the C’s thought they were getting when they signed him as a free agent last summer. Not the one who has rarely been on speaking terms with his wayward jumper. Better a delayed flight than a grounded one.

Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett weren’t going down without a fight. The Boston Celtics survived in overtime to beat the New York Knicks, 97-90, on Sunday despite blowing a 20-point lead. The win at TD Garden forced a Game 5 in New York.

Anthony scored 36 points but went 10-for-35 from the floor while scoring 16 points from the charity stripe.

So far, so good. Boston is on pace for eclipsing the 100-point mark after coming into the elimination game averaging just 75 points per outing.

As expected, New York’s offense has suffered, since Anthony is the only scorer on the floor. The Celtics have locked down the rest of the Knicks’ roster, and Anthony is struggling to find himself decent looks.

Two of New York’s three wins in the series have been by double-figures. A win Sunday would advance the team past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

J.R. Smith was suspended one game by the league after getting ejected for a flagrant foul on Jason Terry in Game 3. Smith’s playoff numbers are down -- he’s only shooting 31 percent from three-point range -- but he is still New York’s second-leading scorer in the playoffs, so New York will likely need more offense from its supporting cast.

Some of them had to go, others felt like they had no choice. Things change, but the Celtics as we knew them are no more. Garnett and Pierce are still up for a good old-fashioned bar fight but the legs aren’t as willing as they once were and the others haven’t lived through all those Game 7s and backs-against-the-wall games.

“If you haven’t been here and experienced playoff play and understand the whole thing, those are the times you have to band together and take some punches,” Garnett said. “We took them but we didn’t really give none back. When we messed up they made us pay for it and good teams are going to do that.”

As has been the case throughout the series, the Celtics just haven’t been able to consistently score. The Knicks, on the other hand, caught fire from behind the three-point arc and never looked back, cruising to the 14-point victory. As a team, New York hit 48 percent of their shot attempts and went 11-for-27 from deep.

Game 4 is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon. Closing out a team on the road is one of the toughest things to do in sports, but the Knicks are really on a roll. No team has ever come back to win a playoff series when down three games to none.

Celtics fans haven’t been given a lot to cheer about in the playoffs this year, but Paul Flannery of SB Nation isn’t ready to bury the team and it’s veteran core just yet:

Can Garnett step up for Boston?

Garnett has struggled to lead the Celtics with Pierce, averaging only 10 points and 10 rebounds per game through the series. Pierce has done his part as one of the last remaining, uninjured, pieces since the “big three” era and the pressure is on Garnett to help deliver a win in Boston. Garnett’s 38 percent field goal percentage from the field is an 11 percent drop from his playoff run last season, and the second-lowest in his career.

Whatever Rondo’s doing, he’s not getting ready for Game 3 because of a torn ACL, and that makes us sad. The playoffs just aren’t the same without Rondo’s icy stares, cutting wit and big-game performances.

Here’s a handful of our favorite games and moments over the years.

Garnett was in foul trouble for most of Game 2 and played only 24 minutes while racking up five personal fouls. If the Celtics have any chance of flipping the dynamic in the series as it returns to Boston, they’ll need to keep Garnett on the floor. And if Rivers’s comments make the referees more leery of calling off-ball fouls on one of his star players, he’ll almost certainly consider the fine money well spent.

• It’s time to think about Dwight Howard’s future

Before the season began, Stoudemire underwent the same knee debridement on his left knee, and his recovery time then took two months. Now, that appears to be the realistic goal with his other knee. Stoudemire told ESPN that he’s not pushing it.

Nevertheless, the deeper New York goes in the playoffs, the more bodies they’ll need, especially in the interior.