NBA Playoff 2025: Brunson Bersinar, Knicks Beat Celtics And Win 3-1 In The East Semifinals

JAKARTA - Jalen Brunson scored 26 of his total 39 points in the second half as New York Knicks finally became the first home team to win in the Eastern Region semifinals, beating the Boston Celtics 121-113 on Monday evening local time Tuesday 13 May WIB). With this victory, the Knicks are now 3-1 up in the best-of-seven series.

Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Mikal Bridges also scored 23 points. OG Ananoby performed solidly with a contribution of 20 points, including several important late-minute actions that helped turn things around after being 14 points behind in the third quarter.

Brunson also recorded 12 assists, leading the game of Knicks who performed solidly at home.

In the Celtics camp, their star Jayson Tatum appears impressive with 42 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals, and includes seven three-point shots. However, Boston's hopes were slumped when Tatum suffered an ankle injury at the end of the match.

The Celtics coach, Joe Mazzulla, confirmed that Tatum's injury was a lower body injury and would undergo an MRI on Tuesday morning US time. At the time of the incident, Tatum immediately asked for a timeout, then assisted to leave the field while keeping his right leg from stepping, before finally being taken to the dressing room using a wheelchair.

Apart from Tatum, Derrick White performed brilliantly with six three-point shots and a total of 23 points, while Jaylen Brown scored 20 points and 7 rebounds. Paytonmas contributed 12 points from the bench.

Knicks can lock the ticket to the Eastern Region final if he can win in Game 5 which will be held in Boston on Wednesday night local time (Thursday 15 May WIB).

In that match, Anunoby opened a series of 14-2 which determined the final result through a three-point shot with 5:52 remaining time in the fourth quarter. After that, Bridges added to the advantage through a jumper, Anunoby stole the ball and did a kink, then Brunson closed the streak with a three-point shot that put the Knicks ahead 116-104 when 225 minutes remaining.

Statistically, the Knicks recorded firing accuracy of 54.3% and 35.3% of the three-point distance (12 out of 34). The Celtics weren't really bad from outside the arc with 18 of 48 (37.5%), and recorded a drastic increase over two poor early games (25 out of 100). Overall, Boston recorded an accuracy of 48.1% in Game 4.

Boston had taken the lead 72-58 after a three-point shot from White at the start of the third quarter. However, the Knicks rose past the 30-13 rate which ended the quarter. Anunoby put the Knicks ahead 86-85 with three points in the remaining 32.1 seconds, followed by a layoff from Josh Hart, and Bridges opened the fourth quarter with a short jumper to make the score 90-85 for the hosts.

Although Tatum had leveled the score to 96 and then led the Celtics to a narrow lead, the lead did not last long after the injury that hit him and a range of scores from the Knicks closed the game with a win.

New York now only needs one more win to advance to the East Region final and the pressure is now fully on the Celtics, especially if they have to play without Tatum.