BOSTON — They did it again.
Somehow, someway, these never-say-die Knicks stunned the defending champions again in their own building.
They rallied Wednesday from 20 points down in the third quarter — again — and left a shocked TD Garden victorious, 91-90 when Mikal Bridges stole the ball from Jayson Tatum as he went up for a baseline jumper in the final seconds of regulation.
Now, after two incredible comebacks in three days, the Knicks are within two games of the Eastern Conference finals, with Game 3 set to tip off Saturday afternoon at the Garden.
Joyous Knicks fans chanted “Let’s go Knicks” and “Knicks in four,” as they headed for the exits.
Jalen Brunson’s two free throws with 12.7 seconds left gave the Knicks the lead for good. And Bridges was there to stop Tatum, two days after his strip of Jaylen Brown in the waning moments of overtime sent the Knicks to a Game 1 victory.
Bridges was again the star, shaking off an 0-for-8 start from the field to score 14 fourth-quarter points. Josh Hart led the Knicks with 23 points and Brunson added 17. Derrick White and Brown each had 20 points for the Celtics, who again were ice-cold from 3-point range, making just 10 of 40.
On the strength of a 21-2 run, the Knicks held a three-point lead with 58.5 seconds to go, but Tatum hit two free throws, then split a double-team and flew in for an uncontested slam. But Brunson drew a foul on the other end and sank two clutch free throws.
After 24 minutes, the Knicks trailed by nine, but neither team could really be thrilled. The Celtics’ 3-point issues continued with a 5-of-21 shooting display. Tatum missed six of his seven shots, many of them on contested isolations. They let the Knicks hang around despite building a 16-point lead at one point, as Tom Thibodeau’s team started the game with eight empty trips and missed 17 of its first 21 field goal attempts.
Meanwhile, the Knicks could’ve played much better. There were eight turnovers leading to 13 Celtics points. They were again hurt on the defensive glass, allowing Boston to outrebound them by eight, and turn nine offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points. Brunson was off, shooting only 3-of-10, and Bridges missed all six of his field goal attempts.
Brown gave the Knicks fits in the opening half, producing 17 points and six rebounds. Towns was the best Knick, scoring 14 points along with 10 boards. Hart had 11, and six of those came during an 11-4 run to close out the first half after the Knicks had trailed by 16.
The third quarter started exactly like Game 1 did: with the Celtics picking apart the Knicks. Tatum scored Boston’s first five points of the period and the lead soon ballooned past double figures to the 20-point mark again. Kristaps Porzingis got on the board in the series, throwing down a dunk, then a 3-pointer. It was 73-53, nearly an identical score to Game 1.
Much like the series opener, the Knicks did rally, reeling off eight straight points entering the final quarter to get within 12. The similarities continued.
The Knicks kept coming, and got as close as four on a Hart basket inside with 3:18 left. By then, the Celtics were collapsing, and the Knicks were headed to a 2-0 lead in a series nobody gave them a shot to win before it started.
