NEW YORK — Jayson Tatum scored 40 points and the Boston Celtics easily handled the New York Knicks for the second time this season, winning 131-104 on Saturday night.
Payton Pritchard added 25 points off the bench for the Celtics, who rebounded from their loss to Dallas on Thursday in an NBA Finals rematch to win for the fifth time in six games and move 2 1/2 games ahead of the Knicks for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Derrick White had 17 and combined with Tatum for all the points in a 19-3 spurt in the third quarter that broke open the only time all night it felt like a game.