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The last time the Knicks faced the Boston Celtics in the playoffs, Jalen Brunson was a sophomore at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill.
Kristaps Porzingis was two years away from being drafted by the Knicks, while Jayson Tatum was three years away from his freshman season at Duke.
Al Horford, now 38 and in his 18th NBA season, had not begun the first of two multi-year stints with the Celtics.
It was all the way back in 2013 that the Knicks, then led by Carmelo Anthony, defeated the Celtics in six games in a first-round playoff series.
But Monday night’s Game 1 marked a long-awaited renewal of Knicks vs. Celtics, whose head-to-head playoff history dates back more than seven decades and has featured all-time greats including Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Larry Bird and Patrick Ewing.
“Of course, it’s going to be a big stage,” said Porzingis, now of the Celtics, who played for the Knicks from 2015-19. “It’s the biggest stage in the Eastern Conference there can be.”
Entering this postseason’s second-round series, the Celtics boasted a 36-31 record against the Knicks in the playoffs.
Boston had won eight of the 15 postseason series between the teams, which are the NBA’s only two charter franchises that still play in their original cities.
The Knicks won their first three playoff series against the Celtics — in the East Division Semifinals in 1951 and 1952 and in the East Division Finals in 1953 — to kick off a run of five consecutive postseasons in which the two teams met.
Boston swept the Knicks in two games in the 1954 East Division Round Robin and beat them, 2-1, in the 1955 East Division Semifinals. Cousy scored at least 20 points in all five games.
A dozen years passed until the Celtics and Knicks met again in the 1967 East Division Semifinals. At that time, the Celtics were seeking a ninth consecutive NBA championship, while the Knicks were back in the playoffs for the first time in eight years.
Boston won that series, 3-1, behind 33.5 points per game from Sam Jones; and 9.5 points and 20.3 rebounds per game from Russell.
The Celtics would eliminate the Knicks again in the 1969 East Division Finals, but the Knicks punched back in the early 1970s.
In 1972, the Knicks needed only five games to defeat the Celtics in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals. Frazier led the way with 24.0 points per game, while Dave DeBusschere averaged 19.6, Bill Bradley added 18.2 and Jerry Lucas contributed 17.2.
A rematch in the 1973 Eastern Conference Finals went the distance, with Frazier scoring 25 points in the Knicks’ 94-78 win in Boston in Game 7. The Knicks would go on to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals that year for their second — and most-recent — championship.
The 1974 Eastern Conference Finals marked the third year in a row that the Knicks and Celtics met in that round, with Boston winning in five games. Reed and DeBusschere played their final NBA games in that series.
Boston won again in the 1984 Eastern Conference Semifinals, with Bird averaging 30.4 points in another series that went seven games.
Bird then averaged 28.3 points per game in a 1988 first-round series that the Celtics won, 3-1.
The Knicks got payback in the same round two years later, with Ewing’s 31.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game leading them to a 3-2 series victory.
The teams would not meet in the playoffs again for more than two decades.
In 2011, the battle-tested Celtics delivered a first-round sweep of a Knicks team that had traded much of its depth for a midseason acquisition of Anthony.
Anthony then led the Knicks past the Celtics in their first-round rematch in 2013, averaging 29.2 points per game against a Boston team that would trade Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets less than two months later.
And that brings the Knicks and Celtics here.
Led by Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the second-seeded Celtics seek to win their second consecutive NBA title and their 19th overall. The third-seeded Knicks, meanwhile, aim to advance past the second round for the first time since 2000.
“We play at the best arena, so any hostile environment, we welcome,” Knicks guard Miles McBride said before Game 1 at TD Garden in Boston. “We love it, and we’re going to be ready.”
The Celtics won all four regular-season meetings with the Knicks, improving their all-time head-to-head record to 308–190.
But that record doesn’t include the playoffs, where the series have been much closer to even.
“It’s just going to add more to the whole thing,” Porzingis said. “New York fans are always great. Boston fans are always super invested and there to support their team. Even between the fan bases, it’s going to be a war. … It’s fun, and it makes the rivalry even more fun.”
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Kristaps Porzingis was two years away from being drafted by the Knicks, while Jayson Tatum was three years away from his freshman season at Duke.
Al Horford, now 38 and in his 18th NBA season, had not begun the first of two multi-year stints with the Celtics.
It was all the way back in 2013 that the Knicks, then led by Carmelo Anthony, defeated the Celtics in six games in a first-round playoff series.
But Monday night’s Game 1 marked a long-awaited renewal of Knicks vs. Celtics, whose head-to-head playoff history dates back more than seven decades and has featured all-time greats including Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Larry Bird and Patrick Ewing.
“Of course, it’s going to be a big stage,” said Porzingis, now of the Celtics, who played for the Knicks from 2015-19. “It’s the biggest stage in the Eastern Conference there can be.”
Entering this postseason’s second-round series, the Celtics boasted a 36-31 record against the Knicks in the playoffs.
Boston had won eight of the 15 postseason series between the teams, which are the NBA’s only two charter franchises that still play in their original cities.
The Knicks won their first three playoff series against the Celtics — in the East Division Semifinals in 1951 and 1952 and in the East Division Finals in 1953 — to kick off a run of five consecutive postseasons in which the two teams met.
Boston swept the Knicks in two games in the 1954 East Division Round Robin and beat them, 2-1, in the 1955 East Division Semifinals. Cousy scored at least 20 points in all five games.
A dozen years passed until the Celtics and Knicks met again in the 1967 East Division Semifinals. At that time, the Celtics were seeking a ninth consecutive NBA championship, while the Knicks were back in the playoffs for the first time in eight years.
Boston won that series, 3-1, behind 33.5 points per game from Sam Jones; and 9.5 points and 20.3 rebounds per game from Russell.
The Celtics would eliminate the Knicks again in the 1969 East Division Finals, but the Knicks punched back in the early 1970s.
In 1972, the Knicks needed only five games to defeat the Celtics in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals. Frazier led the way with 24.0 points per game, while Dave DeBusschere averaged 19.6, Bill Bradley added 18.2 and Jerry Lucas contributed 17.2.
A rematch in the 1973 Eastern Conference Finals went the distance, with Frazier scoring 25 points in the Knicks’ 94-78 win in Boston in Game 7. The Knicks would go on to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals that year for their second — and most-recent — championship.
The 1974 Eastern Conference Finals marked the third year in a row that the Knicks and Celtics met in that round, with Boston winning in five games. Reed and DeBusschere played their final NBA games in that series.
Boston won again in the 1984 Eastern Conference Semifinals, with Bird averaging 30.4 points in another series that went seven games.
Bird then averaged 28.3 points per game in a 1988 first-round series that the Celtics won, 3-1.
The Knicks got payback in the same round two years later, with Ewing’s 31.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game leading them to a 3-2 series victory.
The teams would not meet in the playoffs again for more than two decades.
In 2011, the battle-tested Celtics delivered a first-round sweep of a Knicks team that had traded much of its depth for a midseason acquisition of Anthony.
Anthony then led the Knicks past the Celtics in their first-round rematch in 2013, averaging 29.2 points per game against a Boston team that would trade Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets less than two months later.
And that brings the Knicks and Celtics here.
Led by Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the second-seeded Celtics seek to win their second consecutive NBA title and their 19th overall. The third-seeded Knicks, meanwhile, aim to advance past the second round for the first time since 2000.
“We play at the best arena, so any hostile environment, we welcome,” Knicks guard Miles McBride said before Game 1 at TD Garden in Boston. “We love it, and we’re going to be ready.”
The Celtics won all four regular-season meetings with the Knicks, improving their all-time head-to-head record to 308–190.
But that record doesn’t include the playoffs, where the series have been much closer to even.
“It’s just going to add more to the whole thing,” Porzingis said. “New York fans are always great. Boston fans are always super invested and there to support their team. Even between the fan bases, it’s going to be a war. … It’s fun, and it makes the rivalry even more fun.”
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