Celtics hold off late Knicks charge to win 123-117 in rematch of East semifinal

BOSTON AP Jaylen Brown scored a season-high points sealing the competition with a breakaway dunk in the final seconds Tuesday night as the Boston Celtics beat the New York Knicks - in a rematch of last season s Eastern Conference semifinal Derrick White scored seven of his points in the last four minutes after the Celtics turned back a New York charge that cut a -point deficit to - Jordan Walsh had six points and five rebounds in the fourth quarter for Boston Mikal Bridges scored of his points in the fourth and went for from -point range overall Karl-Anthony Towns added for the Knicks who had won four in a row Boston has won four of its last five games beating four of the top six teams in the Eastern Conference The Knicks took off to a - lead and led - before Boston scored the next points and later scored seven in a row taking a - lead on Brown s dunk that woke up the crowd Brown scored points in the second quarter and in the third Boston led by after three and had a - advantage with eight minutes left before Bridges hit a -pointer and followed it with three free throws then made another to make it - and finish off a - run But Boston came out of a timeout with Josh Minott s -pointer then Walsh scored on back-to-back putbacks to give the Celtics an eight-point lead Bridges hit a to make it a four-point battle with seconds left but he missed one on New York s next possession with a chance to cut the deficit to one Up next The Knicks host the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night The Celtics visit Washington on Thursday night