BOSTON — Forward Jae Crowder, doing it both ends of the floor, scored 13 of his 18 points in the third quarter, and the Boston Celtics won their season-high fourth straight game and handed the New York Knicks a fourth straight loss with a 100-91 decision Sunday night.
Crowder, given the task of guarding Carmelo Anthony for most of the night, hounded the Knicks’ star forward into a bad shooting night. Crowder also grabbed six rebounds.
Anthony scored a game-high 29 points and had 10 rebounds, but he shot 11-for-26 from the floor.
The Celtics (18-13) completed a weekend sweep, as they won Saturday night in Detroit. They moved within a game of the idle Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division. Boston’s next three games are at home against the Los Angeles Lakers (Kobe Bryant’s last visit) and a home-and-home with the Brooklyn Nets — two teams with a total of 13 wins between them.
The Knicks, who hit just four of 19 attempts from 3-point range, fell to 14-18.
Boston guard Isaiah Thomas scored eight points late and finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Guard Evan Turner came off the bench to contribute 19 points and five rebounds, and reserve forward Kelly Olynyk had 11 points and nine rebounds.
New York rookie forward Kristaps Porzingis had 16 points and 12 rebounds but sank just four of 13 shots from the floor.
The Celtics led by 14 with 10 minutes left and then had to hold off a charge that got the Knicks as close as five with 4:48 remaining. However, as New York went ice cold, Thomas hit two consecutive baskets, and the lead was back to nine with 2:40 remaining.
Boston guard Marcus Smart returned after missing 18 games with a leg injury and played just over 13 minutes, producing a three-point play a minute after entering the game in the second quarter. He hit a 3-point shot in the second half and finished with six points and three rebounds.
The first quarter featured a series of mini runs by both teams, with the Celtics scoring the last six points — on Smart’s three-point play and Olynyk’s 3-point shot — to take lead by four at the end of one. The lead was two when the home team ran off nine consecutive points to take control, and Boston led by 10 at the break.
The Knicks, outscored 57-35 in the second half in Atlanta on Saturday night, turned the ball over six times in the first 4:16 as the Celtics built their lead to 15. It was 10 when forward Amir Johnson tipped home a rebound with two-tenths of a second left in the quarter.
On Saturday night, Avery Bradley led a balanced attack with 18 points and the Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons 99-93 at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Point guard Isaiah Thomas contributed 17 points and nine assists and reserve shooting guard Evan Turner supplied 13 points, five rebounds and three assists for Boston. The Celtics’ starting frontcourt of Jared Sullinger, Amir Johnson and Jae Crowder combined for 33 points and 23 rebounds.
Center Andre Drummond carried the Pistons (17-14) with 22 points and 22 rebounds, his fifth 20-20 game of the season. Detroit point guard Reggie Jackson had 17 points, small forward Marcus Morris added 16 and rookie forward Stanley Jackson chipped in 12.
The teams met at The Palace on Dec. 16 with the Pistons prevailing 119-116 behind shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s career-high 31 points. Caldwell-Pope was held to six points on Saturday and committed five turnovers.
The Celtics used an 8-1 spurt early in the third quarter to turn a six-point advantage into a 68-55 lead. Backup center Kelly Olynyk drained a 3-pointer later in the quarter to nudge the lead to 15 at 74-59.
Boston was still up 15 when the fourth quarter began. Center Tyler Zeller’s jumper made it 80-64 before the Pistons reeled off nine straight points. But Detroit couldn’t get closer than seven until Johnson hit a jumper with 1:01 left to pull within 93-88.
After a Celtics turnover, Jackson fired in a 3-pointer to get Boston’s lead down to 95-93. Ex-Piston forward Jonas Jerebko then responded with a mid-range jumper with 10.7 seconds left to stall Detroit’s comeback.
Bradley, Boston’s starting shooting guard, scored 15 first-half points as the Celtics led 51-46 at halftime.