Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson kept the New York Knicks in the hunt for second place in the NBA's Eastern Conference as they beat the Boston Celtics 112-106 on Thursday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The tight Knicks victory in a playoff-style atmosphere at Madison Square Garden puts New York two wins behind rival Boston with just two regular-season games remaining.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Hart top-scored with 26 points, including a pair of clutch three-pointers in the final minute that took an evenly poised game out of the Celtics' reach.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In a match that featured 16 lead changes, Knicks superstar Brunson provided another standout performance, including 25 points and 10 assists.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Asked about teammate Hart, Brunson joked: "I don't want to say anything too good about him right now, but he played really well."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We kept coming back and finding a way," Brunson added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The No. 2 spot means home-court advantage through to the Eastern semifinals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Knicks would have the tie-break advantage if the two teams finish level, due to a superior head-to-head.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Thursday's win also gives the Knicks a one-win cushion over the chasing Cleveland Cavaliers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In a possible preview of the Eastern playoffs second round, a back-and-forth first half featured 10 lead changes, with Payton Pritchard and Brunson scoring freely at opposite ends.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After the break the Knicks quickly opened up a 13-point lead. Yet they found themselves trailing at the end of the third quarter, as the Celtics rallied with seven three-pointers, including six from the bench.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Celtics' Baylor Scheierman was particularly potent from behind the arc, sinking his fifth and sixth three-pointers of the night to put Boston up 104-103 with barely two minutes left.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But a Hart layup and a Brunson free throw restored the Knicks' lead, before Hart finished the game off.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
On an emotional return to the fabled Manhattan arena where he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon nearly a year ago, Boston star Jayson Tatum top-scored for the Celtics with 24 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Tatum has defied the odds to return this season, making his debut last month with the Celtics in the thick of the playoff race.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Trailing conference champions the Detroit Pistons, Boston remain favorites to clinch second, with games Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans and Sunday against the Magic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But they may have to secure the spot without Jaylen Brown, who missed Thursday's clash with Achilles tendinitis.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
- Playoff race -<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Elsewhere, the incredibly tight race for the Eastern Conference's final guaranteed playoff spots took yet more twists.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The top six automatically progress to the post-season, while teams finishing seventh to tenth must enter a knockout play-in tournament next week to join them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Toronto Raptors, boosted by Brandon Ingram's 38 points, gained a valuable 128-114 win over the Miami Heat, rising from sixth to fifth.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
It leaves both the Raptors and the Atlanta Hawks one win clear of the in-form Orlando Magic -- who have won their past four in a row.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But the eighth-placed Philadelphia 76ers saw their own playoff hopes fade as they fell 113-102 to the red-hot Houston Rockets, who claimed an eighth consecutive victory.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
And fans in the West were denied a match-up between the two biggest NBA stars of the past decade as the Golden State Warriors rested Stephen Curry for medical reasons against LeBron James's Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Facing the play-ins next week, the Warriors opted to give an extra recovery day to Curry, who had only recently returned from a 27-game knee injury absence.<\/p>\r\n\r\n