Celtics die by the three after making ugly NBA playoffs record

The defending NBA champions, Boston Celtics, surprisingly lost at the hands of the New York Knicks on Monday. The semifinals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs commenced after the Celtics and Knicks went head-to-head in Game 1 of their seven-game series. While Boston was the favorite, New York managed to find a way to beat the defending champs.

Boston's loss had a lot to do with their disappointing shooting performance beyond the arc. The Celtics notched an NBA Playoff record of 45 3-point misses in a game. With the team forcing a plethora of long-distance shots, the Knicks took advantage of their cold streak and caught up to them in overtime.

Boston attempted 60 3-pointers. They knocked down 15 of them. Jaylen Brown had the worst shooting from beyond the arc on Monday as he only sank one out of 10 attempts. Jayson Tatum and Derrick White were no better as they also missed the majority of their 3-point shot attempts.

Tatum had a 26.7% accuracy from deep, drilling four out of 15 attempts. As for White, he had a 31.3% accuracy, knocking down five out of 16 attempts. The other Celtics players who attempted to take 3-point shots did not hit even 50% accuracy.

These other players were namely Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser. Pritchard had the best shooting night from deep with a 40% accuracy.

Celtics vs Knicks recap: New York wins it in overtime

The first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs is over and we are now in the mid-game of the postseason. On Monday, the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks battled in Game 1 of the semi-finals.

While Boston had the home-court advantage, New York capitalized on their adversary’s poor shooting performance and won the first game in overtime with a 108-105 finish.

Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby were the stars of the show for the Knicks. Brunson and Anunoby had 29 points each. They also had all-around games, with Jalen adding five assists, four rebounds and two steals, while OG added four rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns had similar performances as they both put up a double-double. Hart added 14 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals. As for Towns, he put up 14 points, 13 rebounds and one steal.

With momentum on the Knicks’ side, they now have the advantage heading into Game 2. If they beat the Celtics in their next game, New York will have the opportunity to guarantee a new champion this season.