Tatum scores 36 as the Celtics hold off the champion Knicks 107-103

Jayson Tatum rose from 25 feet with 30.2 seconds left and made it 106-100. It was his third straight basket, and the Boston Celtics held on from there to beat the New York Knicks 107-103 on Friday at TD Garden.

Tatum scored 36 points on 14 of 26 shooting, with nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals. In Boston's opener at Detroit three nights earlier, he scored 13 and made 6 of 23 shots.

It was Boston's home opener, in front of 19,156. The Celtics are 1-1. The Knicks, who raised their 2025-26 championship banner on Tuesday, are 0-2.

Twelve lead changes, then none

For a half, neither team got away. The Knicks led 19-14 in the first quarter, their biggest lead of the night. Boston led 47-41 late in the second. Josh Hart hit a three and a 10-footer, both from Jalen Brunson, to finish an 8-0 run and put New York up 49-47. Paul George answered with a 24-foot three at the halftime buzzer: 50-49 Boston.

The lead changed hands 12 times. The last change came at 10:09 of the third quarter, on a 23-foot three by Jordan Walsh. Boston led the rest of the way.

Tatum's third quarter

Tatum scored 16 points in the third. He hit an 11-foot turnaround, scored twice more from close range, made a 24-foot three and finished the quarter with a driving dunk with 34.2 seconds left. In between he set up Derrick White for a three and Neemias Queta for another.

Boston won the quarter 33-24 and led 83-73. White's 27-foot three early in the fourth made it 86-74, Boston's biggest lead.

New York comes back

Queta scored and was fouled with 8:01 left: 94-82. Then the Celtics did not score for 4:34.

Karl-Anthony Towns tipped in his own miss. Landry Shamet hit a 14-foot pull-up and a 22-foot three. Towns finished it with a tip-in dunk at 4:09. The run was 9-0, and it was 94-91.

Tatum closes it

Tatum ended the drought with a driving layup at 3:27. Brunson answered, and Tatum found George for a 23-foot three: 99-93. Hart hit a 27-footer and then stole the ball from Queta, and Brunson's 11-foot pull-up at 1:41 made it 99-98.

Tatum took over. He hit a 19-footer at 1:24. Towns was called for an offensive foul. Tatum hit an 18-footer at 49.7. OG Anunoby made two free throws, and Tatum answered with the three at 30.2.

From the layup at 3:27, Tatum scored or assisted 12 of Boston's last 13 points. He scored nine in the fourth quarter.

New York had one more push. Brunson missed a three, Hart got the rebound, and Miles McBride hit from 25 feet at 13.9: 106-103. Payton Pritchard made one of two free throws. With 3.6 seconds left, George fouled Brunson, who missed both. Anunoby got the rebound and missed a 28-footer with 0.3 seconds left.

What it means

For Boston, it was the first win, three nights after losing a 22-point lead at Detroit. Tatum went from 0 of 7 on threes in the opener to 3 of 10 here. George added 15 points and Queta 15 off the bench, with three blocks. White had 12 points and six assists. Luka Garza scored eight in four minutes, on 3 of 3 shooting.

For New York, the title defense has started with two losses by a combined 10 points. Towns had 22 points and 10 rebounds on 9 of 13 shooting. Anunoby had 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. McBride scored 20 off the bench and made 6 of 8 threes. Brunson scored 19 on 7 of 17. Mikal Bridges went 0 of 8 in 22 minutes and did not score.

The Knicks made more threes, 16 to 15, but turned it over 16 times to Boston's 10. The Celtics scored 38 points in the paint to New York's 30.

Scoring

Boston: Jayson Tatum 36, Paul George 15, Neemias Queta 15, Derrick White 12, Luka Garza 8, Sam Hauser 6, Jordan Walsh 5, Mitchell Robinson 4, Payton Pritchard 4, Baylor Scheierman 2, Hugo González 0.

New York: Karl-Anthony Towns 22, OG Anunoby 20, Miles McBride 20, Jalen Brunson 19, Josh Hart 10, Landry Shamet 8, Andre Drummond 2, Jose Alvarado 2, Mikal Bridges 0, James Wiseman 0, Jordan Clarkson 0.

By quarter: Boston 26, 24, 33, 24. New York 27, 22, 24, 30.

What is next

The Knicks host the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, October 25, at 7 p.m. ET. The Celtics host the Chicago Bulls on Monday, October 26, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Boston's opener: the Pistons came back from 22 down to beat the Celtics. New York's: the 76ers beat the Knicks on banner night.

The rest of Friday: the Grizzlies closed on a 17-0 run at Golden State and the Hawks won by 47.

Update: the Magic beat the Knicks 111-102 at Madison Square Garden, and New York is 0-3.