Celtics-Knicks Will Be A Physical Grudge Match

The Knicks took game one 85-78.  But what did we already learn about this series?  That every player, not just Carmelo Anthony, is going to have to earn their points at both ends of the floor.  The playoffs are different.  Good defenses are aplenty.  It is like facing big time starting pitching in baseball's October.  Anthony scored 36 points as the Madison Square Garden crowd lost its mind into already thinking that this could be the year (long way to go, but hey, it is New York right?).  But the key to those points was hard work.  Everywhere Anthony moved there was a Celtic.  Every time he shot there was a hand in the way or in the face or swiping at the ball.  This must have felt like Big East basketball for Carmelo, during his freshman year at Syracuse when he helped the Orange win the national title.

The Celtics are gritty.  The Knicks are as well.  But both teams are old.  And both teams know this series is going to be a fight and that points are going to be hard to come by.  It could very well come down to the last one standing, like those old Ali-Frazier matches that captivated Madison Square Garden during boxing's heyday.

By:  Mike Lindsley, "Mid-Day with Mike," 1-4, Yankees pre/post game host on 10-4.5 The Team ESPN Radio.  Follow him on Twitter @MikeLSports.