NEW YORK – The Madison Square Garden crowd was killed while the Knicks' future was on the ground, writhing in pain.

Kevin Knox finally got back on his feet, but barely. The ninth choice was to be removed from the field, unable to exert pressure on his left ankle.

It was a shocking image for the Knicks and their fans.

After Knox left the match, the Knicks managed to keep the game tight against the Boston Celtics before finally falling 103-101 Saturday.

Both teams were on the second half of a back to back. The Knicks lost to the Nets on Friday as the Celtics lost to the Raptors.

The Knicks then confirmed that he was suffering from a sprained left ankle. X-rays came back negative.

Knox was injured at 1:45 in the first quarter.

He was on a quick release opportunity when he took a step and planted his left foot, seeming to start going to the rim above Terry Rozier. But when he stuck his foot, he rolled badly.

"I had a very bad feeling when he fell," said coach David Fizdale. "Where was my angle, I could see that the thing touched the ground, rolled on the ground, I knew immediately when it was on the ground that it was a good shot, I am sensitive to the kid."

Now, all the Knicks can hope for is that Knox will recover quickly.

"Let's hope that his 19-year-old healer body will take office and that he will recover quickly," Fizdale said.

Much of this season is dedicated to the development of Knox. He has already suffered a lot, losing his job in the first five places after a bad season. Knox looked a lot more comfortable against Friday's Nets with a 17-point performance.

The ups and downs will come during the season of a rookie. Knox learns this quickly.

"That's why I joked with him," Fizdale said. "I said," Welcome to the NBA. "You play like shit, you play well and you hurt yourself, it's the roller coaster of our league, so it's good for him, he'll learn from that, he'll grow and come back more." strong and better ".

Keep it close

After Knox left the game, the Knicks managed to hang up with the Celtics. Boston has at one point a 16-point lead before the Knicks come back. The Celtics have tried to get away several times but have never been able to do it.

Damyean Dotson, playing his first minutes of the season, conceded three consecutive shots in the last minute of the first half to bring the Knicks two points behind the end of the game.

Then, with the Knicks at 89-83 with just under five minutes left in the fourth, Tim Hardaway Jr. equalized three times in a row to tie the game and put a crowd of roaring gardeners on foot.

Boston pushed his lead to seven points but the Knicks came back.

"It shows a lot about this group, shows our character, shows that we can fight anyone," Hardaway said. "As long as we compete and we condition ourselves and stay in shape as we do, we will go a long way."

Lance Thomas scored three points with 50.2 seconds remaining to bring the Knicks back to a point before a bucket of Jayson Tatum revived the Celtics by three with 21 seconds to go.

Trey Burke then made a layup to make it a match at one point.

After Tatum made two free throws to give Boston the lead at three points, the Knicks called a timeout.

Burke had trouble getting the ball out of the dead time. He said after the match that he was trying to go to Hardaway.

After entering the ball, Burke finished with the ball in his hands.

He managed to score three points, but a foul was called against Tatum.

"It worked, but the option was to go and see Tim," Burke said. "He had everything there was to play."

Burke missed the first free throw, hit the second and intentionally missed the third. Al Horford took the rebound to end the match.

Fizdale regretted the game he had called.

"I did a shitty game," Fizdale said. "It was terrible, it's the first thing I said to the team, and I thought," I recognize it. It was a bad game. "

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