That blistrering preseason win streak hit the side of Madison Square Garden tonight. The Celtics (3-1), struggling offensively for the first time, lost to the 4-0 Knicks, 101-95.
The Celtics overcame their low energy level to close on New York in the last five minutes, before Derrick Williams' third 3-pointer of the night gave the Knicks a 96-91 lead with 2:10 left. The Celtics, cold virtually all night, never recovered.
Perhaps the crash was inevitable. From a 39.5 percent shooting effort to only the second technical foul of Brad Stevens' NBA career, nothing was aligned. The Celtics coach began the night with a big man combination - David Lee and Amir Johnson - that some have anticipated as part of his season opening starting lineup, and not even that pairing was good enough to rescue this team from a lethargic night.