Celtics-Knicks: The Playoff Series that has been a Year in the making

Boston comes into the playoff series having won all four regular-season matchups by an average of 16.3 points per game.

Celtics’ Message to the New York Knicks? Bring it on. Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images.

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics enjoyed the kind of dominance over New York in the regular season, which makes sense for them to be extremely confident heading into their second-round playoff series.

Boston won all four regular-season meetings by an average of 16.3 points per game.

The thing is, Boston’s strong play against New York has been fueled by more than motivation to win.

Boston has played well all season, but seemed to play with a different, sharper edge to their game when the Knicks were on the docket.

And the reason is clear.