For Celtics coach Doc Rivers and Knicks coach Mike Woodson, the thrust of this game is a lot simpler — both teams need a win, and bad.
BOSTON — The last time the Boston Celtics played the New York Knicks, back on Jan. 7, the Celtics scored what was no doubt their best win of the season.
Playing in Madison Square Garden, in front of a raucous crowd that provided a playoff-level atmosphere, the Celtics — playing without point guard Rajon Rondo — shot 52.7 percent from the field, allowed the Knicks just 40.8 percent shooting, got 39 points from their bench and won 102-96.
It was the third win in a six-game streak, and it was the kind of game that had to make you wonder if maybe the Celtics had put aside their early bungling and finally arrived.
There were, of course, plenty of other ramifications from that game.
An especially physical matchup between Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Garnett wound up with Anthony seeking out Garnett after the game, waiting by the loading dock where the Celtics bus was parked.
That got Anthony a one-game suspension. Garnett allegedly had said something off-color about Anthony's wife, and, as a result, the Knicks are now reportedly taping everything said by and to Anthony on the court.
That incident adds some juice to the matchup of these rivals here Thursday (8 p.m. ET, TNT).
But for Celtics coach Doc Rivers and Knicks coach Mike Woodson, the thrust of this game is a lot simpler — both teams need a win, and bad.
The Celtics (20-21, eighth in the Eastern Conference) are home Thursday after a two-game trip that was about as disappointing as a two-game trip can be.
Not only did the Celtics lose both games, their third and fourth losses in a row, but also they lost to the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers, teams at the bottom rungs of the Eastern Conference.
Throw in the fact that the first loss in the streak came against the lowly New Orleans Hornets, and it becomes clear that the Celtics can’t beat anybody at this point.
Things are only slightly better for the Knicks, who have played only twice in the past 11 days because one of those games was in London, where the Knicks beat the Pistons.
They came back with a loss to the Brooklyn Nets, and it has been obvious that the Knicks miss point guard Raymond Felton, who broke his finger December 26. New York (25-14, second in the East) had begun to slip a bit even before Felton was hurt, but since his injury, the Knicks are 4-6.
In short, these are struggling teams.
If there is some extra effort being put forth in the game, it has as much to do with that as with the Garnett-Anthony tussle.
"On my end there’s nothing left over," Anthony told reporters. "It’s just another game on the schedule and we just happen to be playing Boston. As far as anything being left over, this is a new game. We can't get the game back that we lost to them on our home floor, so we want to go and return the favor and beat them on their home floor."