BOSTON — Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson expectedly fell short Thursday in final voting for the NBA All-Star Game despite placing in the top 10 at their respective positions.
Randle, who finished ninth among Eastern Conference frontcourt players, and Brunson, listed at No. 10 in the backcourt, then reemphasized their respective cases for inclusion as reserves against the team with the best record in the league.
Randle scored 14 points in the first quarter and 14 more in the third in a 37-point effort overall — and Brunson netted 29 with seven assists and a game-saving blocked shot — as the Knicks overcame yet another blown double-digit lead by pulling out a gritty 120-117 overtime win over the NBA-leading Celtics at TD Garden.
RJ Barrett finished with 19 points — including two game-sealing free throws in the final seconds — and Immanuel Quickley contributed 17 off the bench as Tom Thibodeau’s squad improved to 15-10 away from Madison Square Garden for the third-most road wins in the NBA behind the Celtics (17) and the Nets (16).
Elected All-Star starter Jayson Tatum scored 35 points, but Jaylen Brown (22) missed two key free throws late in overtime for the Celtics (35-15), who played without starting point guard Marcus Smart.
Obi Toppin’s 3-pointer and two free throws by Miles McBride pushed the Knicks’ lead to 13 with eight minutes remaining, but the Celtics clawed back within two on Malcolm Brodgon’s 3-pointer with 1:58 to go in regulation. A 24-second violation whistled against the Knicks set up Tatum’s game-tying drive with 48.1 seconds left, but Jericho Sims rejected Robert Williams’ put-back attempt as time expired to force overtime.
The Celtics led by as many as five in the extra session, but Barrett’s corner 3-pointer gave the Knicks a 116-115 lead with 29.0 seconds remaining. After Brown responded with a driving score to put Boston back ahead, Randle sank two free throws to regain the lead. Brown then clanked a pair from the stripe with 7.1 seconds left and Barrett sank two for a three-point lead with 5.7 seconds remaining before Brunson blocked Brogdon’s 3-point attempt as time expired.
The Knicks never have boasted three 20-point scorers over a full season, but their trio of Randle, Brunson and Barrett could be on their way to making franchise history. Randle’s recent hot streak pushed his season total to a career-best 24.8 points per game, with Brunson averaging 22.4 and Barrett contributing 20.2 per appearance.
“I think it starts just with our willingness to kind of play off each other,” Brunson said. “Thibs puts us in positions where we can succeed, and I think it’s just whatever it takes to win games.
“Obviously, for us it involves a little bit of sacrifice. We’re all sacrificing every day, and we’re just trying to figure out ways to win and keep stacking wins and not be complacent in how we do it. So we just gotta keep getting better that way.”
Tatum sank his first five shots, including a couple of 3-pointers, and he netted a dozen early points as Boston raced to a quick 22-7 lead. But Randle — like Brunson, a potential All-Star reserve — bettered Tatum’s total with 14 points in the opening quarter as the Knicks chipped away and trailed 34-26 through one. Randle has scored the second-most first-quarter points in the league this season (454), behind only Dallas star Luka Doncic.
The Knicks came out strong in the second, scoring the first nine points to grab the lead, featuring a long outlet pass by Isaiah Hartenstein for a lefty layup by Quickley.
Toppin had totaled just 21 minutes despite scoring 25 points in the previous two games, but he was on the court for 10 minutes in the first half. Randle did not check back in until there were barely three minutes left in the quarter, and he didn’t score again before halftime, as the Celtics carried a 60-58 lead into intermission.
Brunson dropped in four points, Sims dunked and Barrett nailed a trey in a 9-2 spurt to start the second for a five-point Knicks lead early in the third.
Randle netted 14 more points in the quarter — highlighted by a drive around Tatum for a one-handed dunk — to help extend the Knicks’ cushion to nine with under three minutes left. They held a 91-85 advantage into the final period.
