Celtics earn a short break before battling in the East Semis.
The Boston Celtics completed their dominance of the New York Knicks by wrapping the series with a 4-0 sweep after their 101-89 win in the Madison Square Garden on Sunday to advance in the 2011 East Semifinals.
Spearheaded by their veteran forward Kevin Garnett who tallied 26 points and 10 rebounds complimented by another great performance by Rajon Rondo who had 21 points and 12 assists, the Boston Celtics give themselves time to rest themselves before their anticipated showdown with the Miami Heat who failed to complete a sweep as the 76ers forced Game 5 with a late rally in Game 4.
Leading by as much as 23 points, the Celtics had to withstand a furious rally by the Knicks as the home team cut it to as close as 4 points in the 7 minute mark of the final quarter feeding off the support of the fans.
This loss ended the Knicks most successful season in the last decade and it renewed bad memories of the last time they qualified for the playoffs which was in 2004 where the team was also sent home by a sweep.
Carmelo Anthony led his team with 32 points and Amare Stoudemire added 19 markers and 12 boards but shot an anemic 5-20 clip evident of his struggles brought upon by back spasms he suffered in Game 2 which came after a magnificent opening game performance.
Knick’s star point guard Chauncey Billups wasn’t able to play for the rest of the series after straining his left knee at the final minute of Game 1.
