BOSTON — The Knicks took a night off and Jayson Tatum punished them for it.
Over half of New York’s regular rotation didn’t travel to Beantown for Tuesday’s preseason contest, which turned into a Celtics 123-110 blowout behind Tatum’s 28 points.
The Knicks were pummeled early and put up a fight in the third quarter, largely on the back of Quentin Grimes, who was the visiting team’s bright spot with 22 points in 26 minutes.
Tatum, who sat the fourth quarter, dominated his 30 minutes with eight rebounds and four assists.
Tom Thibodeau settled on resting his regulars on the first night of a back-to-back, utilizing a makeshift lineup of Grimes, Miles McBride, Donte DiVincenzo, Jericho Sims and Mitchell Robinson.
Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart all stayed back in New York, where they’re expected to play heavier minutes in Wednesday’s preseason finale against the Wizards.
“That’s the way it unfolded with the back-to-back,” Thibodeau said. “That’s basically the reason why.”
The coach added that he also wanted to get an extended look at the end of the roster, with several players still fighting for the final two or three roster spots.
To that end, Isaiah Roby (11 points, 16 minutes) and DaQuan Jeffries (8 points, 21 minutes) played well enough offensively while Ryan Arcidiacono went scoreless in 15 minutes.
The Celtics, who face the Knicks in the regular-season opener next week, countered Tuesday with a star-studded starting lineup of Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday.
To no surprise, the Knicks had trouble stopping them and gave up 78 points in the first half.
Mitchell Robinson believes he found a way to improve his ugly free-throw percentage: give it more arc.
“That’s all it really is,” said Robinson, who missed half of his four free throws on Tuesday. “It’s always straight. It just needs to go up.”
Robinson is among the NBA’s worst from the charity stripe and the percentage has regressed in each seasons after a respectable 60 percent as a rookie.
He hit a career-low 48.4 percent last season, which prompted the Heat to install a hack-a-Mitch strategy in the playoffs (that backfired since Robinson uncharacteristically drained his foul shots).
As the 7-foot Robinson noted, the shot typically resembles a line drive.
He’s also practiced shooting one-handed like Shaquille O’Neal.
Thibodeau said Robinson should strive for average first.
“You look at most centers, what they shoot,” Thibodeau said, “and you’re striving to get to at least league average.”
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