Jalen Brunson scores 39 points as it helps New York Knicks to defeat Boston Celtics

Jalen Brunson scored 39 points in three quarters, and the New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics 118-109 on Thursday night to maintain their lead as the Eastern Conference's second seed.

One day after earning a playoff position, the Knicks closed to within a game of the Milwaukee Bucks for second place, with each club having two games left. Because Milwaukee possesses the head-to-head tiebreaker, New York would need to win both while the Bucks lost in Oklahoma City and Orlando.

While Jalen Brunson took 15 points from his 23 attempts from the field and 6 points out of 11 attempts from 3-point range. While his teammate Josh Hart scored 16 points and 16 rebounds and Donte DiVincenzo got 17 points while coming off the bench Bojan Bogdanovic scored 14 points.

For Boston Celtics Jayson Tatum got 18 points, Payton Pritchard scored 16 points, and coming off the bench both Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser scored 15 points each. However, the Boston Celtics hit 11 of 19 overall, including 5 of 10 from beyond the arc, but trailed 32-29 after one quarter. Hart set the tone for the Knicks' outstanding first quarter, during which they shot 69% from the field.

New York Knicks improved their record by 48-32

New York led 47-45 in the second quarter before scoring 17 consecutive baskets as part of a 22-3 run over the last 6 1/2 minutes to go up 69-48 at halftime. Brunson extended the Knicks advantage to 31 points in the third quarter, scoring 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

With this win, the New York Knicks improved their record by 48-32 while the Boston Celtics have 62-18. Both teams will play their next match on Friday as the New York Knicks will face Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics will take on Charlotte Hornets.