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Two-up ... Knicks guard J.R. Smith celebrates the win over Boston. Source: Kathy Willens / AAP
The New York Knicks have talent. Boston has grit. Boston has old time street-smarts, and they have aging superstars whose play is now more efficient than explosive.
Kevin Garnett got the scoring going, and Paul Pierce picked up where he left off, a 26-11 second half run that gave Boston a commanding lead.
But if the third quarter truly is the championship quarter, and talent really does win out in the end, then New York will win this series, and it's why they won game two, 87-71.
"We got stops and Raymond (Felton) did a great job of really pushing it and getting us into something," New York coach Mike Woodson.
"The ball moved side to side and guys were able to make shots... we finally hit our stride in the third quarter."
It's hard to isolate one player in particular who made the difference for the Knicks, but J.R. Smith - who received his Sixth Man award pre-game - provided the punctuation.
Big shots at the end of the first quarter got the crowd going; he then pushed the lead to 15 with a minute left in the third and hit a game-sealing jumper with eight minutes remaining on the clock.
"Never thought i'd get a standing ovation at the garden. In the past I've said I wanted to be in the starting five, but I'm happy with my role now. It's all about the team and that's the most important thing," said Smith.
His 19 points was important to the cause, but he praised veteran teammate, Kenyon Martin, for the four blocks and 11 rebounds, which stifled Boston's offence, forcing their field goal percentage to plummet from a robust 59%, to an anaemic 37% by game's end.
"The way K-Mart got us into it ... his defence, got the rest of us into it, got us all going"
Martin smirked when the media gave him praise but did show his appreciation for the home fans support, and found his voice when discussing his team's championship motivation.
"I think guys know what's at stake, we put ourselves in a great position getting the 2 seed. Now it's all about winning a championship, we're not afraid, we're coming out, playing hard, that's all it is," Martin said.
Celtics' coach Doc Rivers said of Martin's presence, "He's been great, good with his hands... Every time they bring someone in, they keep getting older and older and better and better."
Mike Woodson was determined not to show any satisfaction with their 2-0 lead, when talk switched to going back to Boston for game three.
"They got some wonderful fans, just like we do. We got to go in and play solid. You got to play perfect basketball to win on the road," said Woodson.
As for Woodson's opposite number, he was happy to exhibit his eagerness when game three came up, "We're going back to Boston." A big smile on his face, Rivers paused to savour the words. "And that's the truth. I'm positive the series has started, we're down 2-0!"
Garnett too can't wait for game three, "Emotions are going to be high, we're looking forward to going back to Boston. We haven't been home since it all happened, so really looking forward to getting home."
Fox Sports News and Foxsports.com.au will have you covered, as Jeremy Hartcher heads to Boston for what is a must watch game three at the TD Garden.
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