Celtics–Knicks rivalry
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| First meeting | December 7, 1946 | ||
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| Latest meeting | April 2, 2017 (Madison Square Garden) |
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| Next meeting | TBA | ||
| Statistics | |||
| Meetings total | 534 | ||
| All-time series | 323–211 (BOS) | ||
| Regular season series | 287–180 (BOS) | ||
| Postseason results | 36–31 (BOS) | ||
| Longest win streak | |||
| Current win streak | BOS W1 | ||
| Post-season history | |||
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The Celtics–Knicks rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks. The Celtics and Knicks are two of only three remaining charter franchises (the other being the Golden State Warriors) from the inaugural Basketball Association of America, which began operations in 1946.
The rivalry mirrors the fierce competition between the Boston and New York City sports teams, as evidenced by the Bruins-Rangers rivalry, Red Sox–Yankees rivalry and Jets–Patriots rivalry. Boston and New York City are only 190 miles apart, and both cities' professional sports teams are among the most historic in professional sports history. The Celtics and Knicks were both established in 1946 as charter franchises of the Basketball Association of America, and are the two oldest teams still playing in their original city today.
The first playoff meeting was in the Division Semifinals of the 1950–51 season. This was the first round of the playoffs and a best-of-three series. The Knicks swept the Celtics and got to the NBA Finals, but lost to the Rochester Royals. The clubs squared off in the Division Semifinals once again in the following season. This time, the Celtics were able to win Game 1 at home, before the Knicks tied the series at home at 1. Game 3 was a tough, double overtime showdown in Boston, but the Knicks won 88–87. Once again, Knicks went to the finals and lost to the Lakers. In the 1952–53 season, the teams met in the Division Finals, a best-of-five series. The Knicks won Game 1, the Celtics won Game 2, each at home. The Knicks won Games 3 and 4 to win the series but lost to the Lakers in the Finals once again. Despite 3 Conference Championships from the help of future Hall of Famers Dick McGuire and Harry Gallatin, the Knicks never won an NBA title in the 1950s. For the 1953–54 season, the teams played in a round-robin format along with the Syracuse Nationals. This meant the 3 teams each played each other twice, and the one with the lowest winning % is eliminated. Syracuse went 4–0, Boston went 2–2, and New York went 0–4. Syracuse eliminated Boston in the following round. In the 1954–55 season, teams played each other in the Division Semifinals. The Celtics won Game 1 in Boston, the Knicks won Game 2 in New York, and the Celtics wrapped it up with a win in Game 3 but lost to the Nationals in the next round. It was the last playoff meeting until 1967. For the rest of the decade, the Knicks never advanced past the first round, while Boston won titles in the 1956–57, 1958–59, and 1959–60 seasons.
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