Two Eastern Conference teams thriving in this year's preseason will meet again today, Thursday, when the New York Knicks visit the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden.
In their first meeting last Oct. 16, the Knicks won 101–95 to hand the Celtics their only loss of the preseason.
Leading New York in that win was offseason addition forward Derrick Williams who tallied 19 points, five rebounds, one steal, and one block off the bench.
Unfortunately, after the win over Boston, the Knicks played without All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony and were defeated by the unbeaten Charlotte Hornets 97–93 in their previous preseason game held last Saturday.
Leading New York in the loss to the Hornets was young forward Cleanthony Early who had 17 points, four rebounds, one assist, and one block off the bench.
Starting point guard Langston Galloway added 15 points, three rebounds, six assists, and one steal.
Thursday's second matchup with the Celtics will be the last game of the preseason for the Knicks who will be opening their 2015–16 regular season on Oct. 28 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Celtics, on the other hand, bounced back from their loss to New York and in their last preseason game played last Monday, defeated the Brooklyn Nets 111–105.
Rookie point guard Terry Rozier, who is playing impressively in the preseason, paced the C's with 16 points, four rebounds, six assists, and four steals.
Offseason signing forward Amir Johnson helped Boston with 15 points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Big men Kelly Olynyk and Jonas Jerebko also scored in double-digits in the win, tallying 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Following their coming meeting against the Knicks, the Celtics will have one more game against the Philadelphia 76ers before they close this year's preseason campaign.
The second game between the Knicks and Celtics this preseason will take place today, Oct. 22, at 7:30 p.m. EST. To watch via live stream, click here.
