Why 2-0 series deficit vs. Knicks is not the end of the world for Celtics

The Boston Celtics are somehow down 2-0 against the New York Knicks after falling apart and losing massive leads in each of the first two games of the series. While the defending champs still have a chance to come back, they will have to beat the Knicks in four of the next five games, with three of those games coming at Madison Square Garden.

The Celtics losing the first two games of the series at home is shocking, and that’s even before you get to how they lost them. However, Boston has been in this position before, and has even been there with this core of players.

This is the fifth time that the Celtics have lost the first two games of a playoff series in Boston out of 77 possible situations (excluding the bubble), according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press. The Celtics won one of those series, when they rattled off four wins in a row all the way back in 2017 against the Chicago Bulls.

The most recent series that fits this bill is not one that Celtics fans will want to remember. Back in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics dropped the first two games against the No. 8 seed Miami Heat before losing Game 3 on the road. Boston then won the next three games to force a Game 7, but the Heat picked up one more win in Boston to advance to the NBA Finals.

Celtics fans will be hoping that this series goes more like that one back in 2017, and it will have to if they want to come back and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Incredibly, both the Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers are down 2-0 despite playing the first two games at home, so the top two seeds in the East have a lot of work to do if they want to come back and square off for a spot in the NBA Finals. Both teams are good enough to do so, but they have a lot of work to do to close the gap.