The New York Knicks silenced the crowd at TD Garden in Boston by taking a 51-39 halftime lead over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their first-round NBA Playoff series. Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire each scored 12 points in the first half for New York.
The sixth-seeded Knicks outscored the third-seeded Celtics, 28-15, in the second quarter. At one point New York went on a 23-9 run.
Rajon Rondo has 10 points to lead Boston, which is really exactly what the Knicks want. Rondo is the distributor for the Celtics and when he is forced to shoot rather than get the ball to Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen the Boston offense is not as good.
Boston led by a point after one quarter, 24-23, but missed an opportunity to open a lead as Anthony spent most of the period on the bench after picking up two fouls in the first 1:28.