Knicks win 6th straight, drop Celtics from top spot in NBA

NEW YORK (AP)— Julius Randle and Immanuel Quickley each scored 23 points, andthe surging New York Knicks knocked the Boston Celtics out of thetop spot in the NBA with their sixth straight victory, 109-94 onMonday night.

CelticsAll-Star Jayson Tatum struggled through a 6-for-18 shootingperformance and was ejected in the fourth quarter after picking uphis second technical foul. He finished with 14 points, nine assistsand seven rebounds.

Jalen Brunsonadded 17 points for the Knicks (36-27), who inched ahead ofBrooklyn into fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

MalcolmBrogdon scored 22 for the Celtics (44-18), who were missingAll-Star Jaylen Brown due to personal reasons. They slippedpercentage points behind Milwaukee (43-17), which has won 14straight games and now owns the NBA’s best record.

Marcus Smartadded 19 points but Boston missed 20 of its first 22 attempts from3-point range and had its three-game winning streak snapped.

New York tookcontrol in the second quarter and never gave it up. The margin wasin double digits for most of the second half, with the Celticsunable to shoot well enough to sustain any good stretch.

Tatum beatthe 76ers on Saturday in Philadelphia with a 3-pointer with 1.3seconds left for a 110-107 victory, but couldn’t get his outsideshot going Monday. He missed his first six 3-point tries andfinished 1 for 9 behind the arc. Even when he got inside, thingsdidn’t work out. His driving dunk in the third quarter was followedby his first technical foul for hanging onto the rim.

He picked uphis second and was thrown out moments after his final 3-point missin the fourth, screaming and gesturing at halfcourt believing hewas fouled.

Randle scored12 points in the first quarter and Boston went 1 for 12 behind thearc as New York took a 27-15 lead.

Brunson’sthree-point play capped an 8-0 run and gave the Knicks a 47-27 leadmidway through the second quarter. The Celtics rallied with 12 in arow to get within 49-41, but RJ Barrett steadied the Knicks with a3-pointer followed by a three-point play, and the lead was back upto 60-46 at the break.

The teamsmeet again Sunday in Boston.

TIP-INS

Celtics:Coach Joe Mazzulla said Brown was expected back Wednesday againstCleveland. ... Derrick White started for Brown and scored 13 pointsbut missed all five 3-point attempts.

Knicks: Needone victory to match their total from last season after finishing37-45. ... Mitchell Robinson had 10 points, making all five shots,and 13 rebounds.

UPNEXT

Celtics: HostCleveland on Wednesday.

Knicks: HostBrooklyn on Wednesday.