Knicks Morning News (2016.12.26)

Monday’s Knicks News: Celtics hang on for close Christmas day win

Knicks in a giving mood on defense in Christmas Day loss to Boston

Carmelo Anthony stuns cancer patient’s family with car for Christmas

It didn’t turn out to be a Merry Kristaps for the Knicks’ 7-foot-3 Latvian phenom, despite some gaudy numbers posted on a still-healing bruised right knee. Kristaps Porzingis had 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting, 12 rebounds, two steals and four blocks, sprinkled in with a couple of highlight-reel dunks. But his season-high five turnovers, a…

There was a face-to-face showdown. There was a shot to the mouth that drew blood. Things got both chirpy and chippy during the Knicks’ 119-114 Christmas loss to the Celtics at the Garden. After a whistle stopped play in the middle of the third quarter, Carmelo Anthony and Boston center Al Horford got in each…

There was blood on Christmas at the Garden. Boston’s Marcus Smart received an elbow to the face on Derrick Rose’s drive to the hole in the first half and came off the court with blood gushing from his mouth. By the end of this holiday matinee, after the Knicks’ spirited rally from nine points down…

Knicks fans nearly got this year’s Christmas miracle at the Garden on Sunday. The Celtics’ Avery Bradley stole it away. The Knicks came all the way back after trailing by 13 in the fourth quarter, but ended up on the raw end of a 119-114 decision before a sellout crowd of 19,812. Carmelo Anthony missed…

Knicks star Carmelo Anthony played the role of St. Nick on Sunday, when he gave a car to 17-year-old fan with cancer just before the game against the Celtics in Madison Square Garden. The 32-year-old forward handed a 2017 Kia Sorento to Jarell Lara, who suffers from a rare form of cancer called Langerhans Cell…

Kristaps Porzingis has made it a goal to play in all 82 games for the Knicks this regular season. But he made it clear in the days leading up to Sunday that some games mean more than others.

The Knicks took the floor at Madison Square Garden on Christmas with their spirit for giving in the right place but their priorities backward.

Locked in a duel with surging Boston, the Knicks displayed a lack of cohesiveness as the clock wound down, and the Celtics escaped with a win at the Garden.

This time, Cleveland climbed out of a 14-point hole in the fourth quarter. In last season’s N.B.A. finals, it erased a three-games-to-one deficit for its first title.

After losing three superstars last season, the championship Huskies are undefeated again — the latest evidence that Coach Geno Auriemma’s success is based on more than recruiting.

Derrick Rose knows the Knicks’ 114 points should have been more than enough to beat the Celtics on Sunday.

Not even Christmas can soften this rivalry. It only made it better.

Carmelo Anthony helped a 17-year-old fan with cancer step into his new car in the basement of Madison Square Garden.

Isaiah Thomas led six Celtics in double figures with 27 points as the Celtics held off a furious comeback by the Knicks 119-114 in a Christmas Day matinee at Madison Square Garden

Carmelo Anthony will appear in his fifth Christmas Day game when the New York Knicks host the Boston Celtics on Sunday at noon at Madison Square Garden.

Kristaps Porzingis and the New York Knicks will face Isaiah Thomas and the Boston Celtics on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.