NBA 2018-19: 3 talking points from Boston Celtics' blowout win over New York Knicks

#1 The Celtics were the far better fast-break team in the game

Al Horford scored 19 points in the win

With Frank Ntilikina, the Knicks' best perimeter defender, out for a third straight game, the visitors could not stop the Celtics when they came to score. New York committed 17 turnovers (higher than their season average of 14.2) in this regular season matchup, as a result of which the Celtics piled up 26 fast break points (Knicks had just 7).

On the other hand, Boston faltered on just 9 possessions (fewer than their season average of 13 turnovers per game) and at the same, affected 8 steals and 6 blocks on the defensive end.

"Terrible," Knicks coach David Fizdale said. "Terrible defense tonight. It was Swiss cheese. No matter what coverage we put in, we just didn't have it defensively tonight."

The Celtics went ahead to score the first three baskets of the game and from that point on, never trailed in the game.

Irving aptly summed up the ingredients that make the Celtics deadly as a unit down the stretch:

“Obviously, we have a great head coach that does a great job with play calling,” Irving said of Brad Stevens. “But he also gives us a lot of freedom to go out there and create for one another. We’ve been doing a great job of trusting each other, having everybody touch the ball during certain possessions, being aware of what the defense is trying to take away from us and then taking advantage of our mismatches.”