Back-to-Back 20-Point Meltdowns Put Celtics on Wrong Side of History

None of it is good.

Two days after coughing up a 20-point lead in a humiliating loss to the New York Knicks, the Celtics, well, coughed up another 20-point lead in another humiliating loss to the New York Knicks.

Same opponent. Same collapse. Same ending — Jayson Tatum driving into the lane, and Mikal Bridges snatching the ball, the moment, and Boston’s momentum.

Now, the Celtics trail 2-0 in a series in which they’ve held a combined 40-point lead. And yes, last year’s title is probably the only thing keeping the national talking heads from tearing them to shreds.

Bridges certainly deserves applause. Not only did he seal both wins with clutch steals, but he also scored 14 of the Knicks’ 30 fourth-quarter points in Game 2. This after entering the final frame with zero. That’s a playoff career high for a single quarter, on a night that belonged to New York’s resilience and Boston’s unraveling.

From a broader view, the Celtics’ collapse fits a bigger theme of this postseason: historic comebacks.

Game 2 marked the fifth time in the 2025 playoffs that a team has rallied from 20+ points down — the most ever in a single postseason, and we’re not even halfway through Round 2.

The list:

• Celtics-Knicks Game 2 (20 points)
• Pacers-Cavaliers Game 2 (20 points)
• Celtics-Knicks Game 1 (20 points)
• Pacers-Bucks Game 5 (20 points)
• Thunder-Grizzlies Game 3 (29 points)

Somehow, four of the five comebacks involve either the Pacers (the heroes) or the Celtics (the goats).

And make no mistake, this kind of collapse isn’t just rare. It’s unprecedented.

Boston is the first team in the play-by-play era to blow two 20-point leads in a single postseason. Forget back-to-back — no team had ever done it at all. Now the Celtics have done it twice, and in 48 hours.

This isn’t a team with a history of blowing leads, either. The Celtics lost just one game all season after going up 20. They finished 61-21 overall. They’re supposed to be smarter than this. Steadier than this. Better than this.

Instead, they’re reeling. The Knicks are rolling. And history is being made — just not the kind Boston wants hanging in the rafters.