LOS ANGELES -- When the New York Knicks won their opening round series opener Saturday afternoon at the Madison Square Garden, they made the Boston Celtics look like a team lacking in firepower and groping for cohesion..
Simply put, the Knicks were just the better team. They played solid defense, had a deeper bench and their star, Carmelo Anthony, drilled a game-high 36 points.
New York, which won the Atlantic Division title for the first time in 19 years, looked formidable by having added firepower in J.R. Smith, Raymond Felton and Kenyon Martin, who all scored in double figures. Martin also cornered nine rebounds while relieving the unusually ineffective Tyson Chandler, the full-time Knicks center who was held to 20 minutes with a bulging at center disk in the neck..
The Celtics' offensive woes were more pronounced in the second half where they were held to 25 points. Boston, which played without point guard Rajon Rondo (torn ACL), also had 21 turnovers.
Jeff Green led the Celtics with 26 points while Paul Pierce added 21. But key errors by Pierce forced the Celtics to surrender the lead they held until the 8:13 mark of the fourth quarter. Kevin Garnett missed eight of 12 shots and finished with eight points and nine rebounds.
The Celtics need to find solutions to make up for the vacuum left by Rondo and 2-guard Jason Terry needs to improve on his 0-for-5 effort. Game 2 is Tuesday night at the Madison Square Garden before the series shifts to the TD Garden in Boston.. (SD)
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