*Out of almost 250 teams to go down 2-0 in a best-of-7 series, just 15 have come back to win the series.
–Last year, the Thunder became just the 15th team in NBA history to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-7 series in the playoffs.
–The Celtics have not done so since the 1969 Finals.
*Saturday was the first time in 88 career playoff games that Jason Terry was left scoreless.
–Previous low: 2 points (April 29, 2010 at Spurs).
*The Celtics had just 8 points with their 8 turnovers in Saturday’s 4th quarter.
–The Knicks had zero turnovers in Saturday’s 4th quarter loss.
–The fewest points that were ever scored in a playoff quarter: 5 by the Portland Trail Blazers at Utah in the 4th quarter on May 18, 1999 (via http://www.nba.com/history/records/playoffs_game_points.html).
*After scoring 53 points in the first half, the Celtics then scored just 25 in the second half. It was Boston’s lowest total in a half in any of its 592 playoff games. (all of this 2nd half/4th quarter information via ESPN Stats & Info).
–Boston also tied a franchise playoff record with its 8 points in the 4th quarter, which was its 2,368th quarter in those 592 playoff games.
–The only other time that the Celtics scored 8 points in a quarter in a playoff game came in the first of those 2,368 quarters (1st quarter of a 79-72 loss to the Chicago Stags on March 28, 1948).
*It is being magnified that the Celtics defended the Knicks’ 3-pointer well, but the Knicks also defended the Celtics’ midrange jump shot well.
–The Celtics shot 7-of-19 (.368) on midrange shots in Game 1, which ranks 10th out of the 16 NBA teams thus far in the playoffs.
–During the regular season, the Celtics owned a .438 field-goal percentage on midrange shots, the best in the NBA.
*“When J.R. Smith shot 50 percent or better from the field this season, the Knicks went 22-3” (all of this Smith information via ESPN Stats & Info).
–They won the last 13 regular-season games in which he made at least half his shots.
–Not surprisingly, when Smith was cold, the Knicks did not win as much. They went 12-11 when he shot below 35 percent from the field.
–Smith was the first player to win the Sixth Man averaging at least 18 points and 5 rebounds in 20 years. The last was Clifford Robinson in 1992-93.
*It was tough for the Celtics to lose when doing pretty well in the rebounding battle.
–Coming into this game, they were 18-6 during the regular season when either tying or winning the rebounding battle.
–Of those 24 games, the Celtics were 5-6 on the road (13-0 at home).
*Only once in the regular season did the Celtics turn the ball over more than 20 times in regulation.
–Then on Saturday, the Celtics committed 21 turnovers.
–The Celtics are now 2-9 when committing at least 18 turnovers in 2012-13 (including the regular season and playoffs).
*The Celtics went 19-of-19 from the free-throw line on Saturday.
–The last team to do go perfect from the line with more than 15 free-throw attempts in the playoffs: 2009 (Lakers).
–The last time a team lost a playoff game when being perfect from the free-throw line with at least 19 free-throw attempts was 1992 (Game 6 of NBA Finals).
–The Celtics’ .776 free-throw percentage during the regular season was the 6th-best one in the league.
*Milestone Watch:
–Celtics History: All-Time Regular Season and Playoff Wins–
1. Red Auerbach 885
2. Tommy Heinsohn 474
3. Doc Rivers 473 (Rivers needs 1 to tie Heinsohn for 2nd place)
–All-Time Playoff Defensive Rebounds–
11. Patrick Ewing 1098
12. Kevin Garnett 1093 (Garnett needs 5 to tie Ewing for 11th place)
13. Charles Barkley 1072
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