Knicks battle into OT before falling to Celtics

Some teams, some coaches, might opt in the final days of the regular season to exercise caution. They might hide some of their stars and keep them safely tucked away to avoid injury and escape a live scouting report ahead of a possible playoff matchup.

Tom Thibodeau and Joe Mazzulla are not those type of coaches and the Knicks and Celtics are not those teams.

So with just five days left in the regular season the Celtics arrived at Madison Square Garden with much of their rotation on the injury report, but all but one upgraded and available at game time. And the Knicks, with more to prove, dragging an 0-8 record against the three top teams in the NBA into the game, put out a full rotation for the first time against the Celtics this season

And the intensity appeared more like a playoff game as both teams fought back and forth, carrying it into overtime with the Knicks showing fight as they clawed back from a fourth-quarter hole before losing, 119-117, in overtime to the Celtics.

This game may not have meant anything in the standings, but tell that to Jayson Tatum and OG Anunoby who were shoving each other on a jump ball in the final minutes of overtime. Or tell it to Kristaps Porzingis who was celebrating every shot as if he were still a rookie and this was his home court, including a go-ahead three-pointer with 40.3 seconds left in overtime that gave him 34 points.

And tell it to Mikal Bridges, who fumbled away a pass out of bounds with 13 seconds left, spoiling a chance for the Knicks to attempt a game-tying shot. Forced to foul, the Knicks saw Derrick White hit two free throws to put the game out of reach.

Lessons were learned. Maybe start with fouling in the final seconds with a three-point lead rather than letting the Celtics get off a game-tying shot. Karl-Anthony Towns is a problem offensively against the Celtics, scoring 34 points. But Towns might not be able to defend the Celtics. OG Anunoby battles Tatum as well as any defender, but no other defender on the Knicks can slow him down as he finished with 32 points.

For the Knicks battling against the Celtics will have to settle for as much of a confidence boost as they would get. They dropped to 0-4 against the Celtics, who line up as a possible Eastern Conference semifinal opponent.

The teams swayed back and forth, the Knicks delivering big shots, but it seemed as if every one was answered by Tatum in the fourth quarter. Brunson’s shot in the lane closed the gap to 102-101 with 2:21 left and after Derrick White misfired from three the Knicks took the lead as Anunoby followed a Brunson miss with 1:29 to play. Brunson then found Bridges in the lane for a three-point lead.

Tatum was then fouled on a three-point attempt by Towns, sending him to the line with 35.8 seconds remaining. Tatum hit two, but missed on the third and the Knicks grabbed the rebound and called time with 27.4 seconds to play.

Brunson found Hart cutting along the baseline for a three-point lead, but Tatum delivered one more time, shaking Anunoby and draining a game-tying three with just 2.9 seconds left.

The Knicks called timeout, but Bridges could not get the ball into Brunson and Hart was forced to fire up a desperation shot that missed and the game was headed to overtime.

The Knicks have rarely had an opportunity this season to put their whole roster on the floor ahead of the postseason, so these final games mean something to them — no matter who is lined up against them.

“Winning always matters,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game. “It’s the next game and that’s what you have to focus in on. What goes into winning, prepare yourself for the game and then be ready to go.

“Everything does matter. Whatever your circumstances are you want to take advantage of that. I think the way everything is structured now in terms of the play-in and the seeding that you are fighting for. . . . When you go into the games, you don’t know who’s playing and not playing so you have to prepare for everybody. I think it’s you want to go through [to] the finish line whatever that is. You want to play your best going in.”