(SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Knicks will try to avenge an embarrassing loss on Friday night when they travel to TD Bank Garden to meet the Boston Celtics.
The C's took the train south to Madison Square Garden on Sunday and hammered the Knicks, 114-73.
"I didn't see this coming," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said after the loss. "Nobody should be happy about watching something like this today. It's a step backwards. I thought we turned the corner a bit. I can't have our guys stepping on the floor doing what they did today."
The setback halted a two-game winning streak and started a two-game slide. The Knicks ended that on Wednesday with an 83-78 home victory over the Chicago Bulls, but it was hard-earned to say the least.
The Knicks blew a 23-point lead when a 33-10 Bulls run spanning the third and fourth quarters tied the game. Amare Stoudemire's jumper and Carmelo Anthony's free throws stopped the surge and gave New York a four-point lead with 1:29 left. The Bulls let the shot clock run out then turned the ball over on two possessions in the final minute, allowing Anthony to seal the win at the foul line.
"We closed it out," Anthony said. "We figured out a way to close the game out. Everybody did their job defensively, communicating, and we pulled the game out."
Anthony led the way with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Stoudemire was the only other Knicks player in double figures with 14.
With Raymond Felton out with a hamstring issue, Iman Shumpert played only 13 minutes Wednesday. He banged knees with Chicago's Mike Dunleavy and sustained a bruised knee.
The Celtics dropped their second in a row on Wednesday when former head coach Doc Rivers guided his Los Angeles Clippers to a 96-88 victory. The Boston faithful gave Rivers a standing ovation early, then once again after a video tribute played in between the first and second quarters.
"I respect a good coach and I'm appreciative to the opportunity that I have and I'm appreciative of the time that he spent here," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of Rivers. "I don't know him very well, but I admire what he's accomplished and everyone else was up and I should have been up too."
The C's had a six-point edge at the half, but were outscored 57-43 over the final 12 minutes.
Jeff Green led all scorers with 29 points, while Jordan Crawford, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, finished with 20. Brandon Bass registered a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds and Jared Sullinger managed 10 points.
The Boston bench combined for a paltry four points - two from Gerald Wallace and two from MarShon Brooks.
The Celtics have taken three of the last four regular-season matchups with the Knicks. (These two teams met in the first round of last season's playoffs, although neither team much resembles those postseason squads.)
The Knicks won twice in Boston last season, which snapped an 11-game losing streak at TD Bank Garden.
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