Celtics knock Knicks; Defense leads rout of N.Y.

Byline: Bill Doyle

BOSTON - Give Quentin Richardson credit for this much - he isn't easily impressed.

On Wednesday, the Knicks forward insisted he wasn't awed by the Celtics' great start and said they hadn't proven anything yet before he went on to criticize their bench. Last night, he got to see the Boston reserves play a great deal because the game was such a blowout as the Celtics embarrassed New York - doesn't that sound great? - by a 104-59 score before another sellout at the Garden.

Afterward, Richardson refused to admit his opinion of the Celtics had improved.

"I still don't think we're in awe of them," Richardson said. "I know I'm not. There are a lot of teams that are pretty good in this league, but that doesn't mean you're in awe of them, or you're scared of them. I'm pretty sure when the Bulls were 72-10, people weren't scared and in awe of them. We're all NBA players."

The Celtics led by as many as 52 points in the fourth quarter before settling for a 45-point win, the sixth-largest in their history. It was also the third-worst loss in Knicks history and it could be the last straw that costs coach Isiah Thomas his job. New York, despite the NBA's highest payroll, fell to 4-10.

"Whatever he said, he can say it," Celtics sub Glen Davis said of Richardson after scoring a career-high 13 points. "It's a free country."

Did the Boston bench prove anything to Richardson last night?

"That's not the approach we want to take," Davis said. "We won and that's the most important thing."

Nate Robinson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to prevent the Knicks from setting a franchise record for fewest points in a game. The Knicks scored 58 points against Utah on Dec. 15, 2000 in New York.

With the game well in hand, all five Boston starters sat out the entire fourth quarter until Rajon Rondo had to reenter in the final minute when Eddie House fouled out. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen each scored a game-high 21 points in only 29 minutes. Kevin Garnett played just 22 minutes and scored a season-low 8 points, but pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Rondo scored 10 points, all in the first quarter, and dished out a game-high 7 assists.

House came off the bench to score 15 as the Celtics beat the Knicks for the seventh time in nine meetings.

The rest that the starters got in the fourth period will come in handy tonight when the Celtics take a 12-2 record into their game at Miami. A victory would enable the Celtics to post their best November record since they went 13-1 in 1985. Boston went on to win its last NBA championship that season.

The Celtics improved to 8-0 at the Garden. Defending NBA champion San Antonio (9-0) is the only other team that has yet to lose at home. That's pretty good company.

All of last season, the Celtics won only a dozen home games, finishing 12-29. Of their eight home victories, seven have come by 22 points or more.

The Celtics outscored the Knicks, 12-3, to start the first quarter, 16-2 to start the second, 15-2 to start the third, and 13-2 to start the fourth.

Garnett's jumper with 9:14 left in the third enabled the Celtics to lap the Knicks, 62-31. Pierce followed with a 3 to put the hosts up by his number, 34.

Pierce's trey with 4:26 left in the third put Boston up by 40, 77-37. A little later, Allen's drive pushed Boston's lead to a mind-boggling 45 points, 82-37, a score that would make Bill Belichick blush.

It grew even worse for New York. House's 3-pointer increased the lead to 50, 93-43, with 8:34 left. A disgruntled New York fan tossed a Knicks jersey onto the court in disgust. Gabe Pruitt's jumper made it 95-43.

The Celtics posted the most lopsided win in their 62-year history by 51 points, 153-102, against Philadelphia on March 2, 1962.

The Knicks shot only 30.3 percent (23 of 76). Robinson led New York with 11 points, thanks to his buzzer-beating hoop. Jamal Crawford paced the New York starters with 8. Richardson finished 3 of 12 and scored 7.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers was concerned about the size of Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry under the basket, but each scored only 4 points. Randolph was 1 of 10 and Curry 2 of 11.

The Knicks had won their last two games and shot 53.2 percent in a 113-109 home win over a good Utah team on Monday night.

"We take two steps forward and one giant step back," Thomas said, "and I don't know where this game came from. I thought we played extremely selfish."

The Celtics jumped out to a 12-3 lead with Rondo pushing the pace and scoring 8 points.

"The thing I try to get through to Rajon every night," Rivers said, "is why give up your best talent, why walk the ball up the floor? Push the pace every single time."

Mariel Ross, 12, of Littleton gave a stirring rendition of the national anthem.

NAME: BOSTON CELTICS

ART: PHOTOS

PHOTOG: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CUTLINE: (PHOTO 1) The Celtics' Kevin Garnett muscles a rebound away from the Knicks' Zach Rudolph during the first quarter at the Garden. (PHOTO 2) The Celtics' Glen Davis, upper right, battles with the Knicks' David Lee for a rebound during the second quarter last night at the Garden.