Celtics vs. Knicks: Can New York actually keep this up?

The Knicks are up 2-0 in the series despite being down 20 points in each of those games. Can they keep it up?

The most surprising series of the second round of the NBA playoffs so far is the one between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks.

After the Celtics won the four games between the two teams in the regular season — with an average margin of victory of 16.3 points — the Knicks have raced out to a 2-0 lead in their postseason matchup. Not only did New York win two games on the road to start the series, the Knicks came back from 20-point deficits in the second halves of both games.

How is all this happening? NBC News’ Andrew Greif and Rohan Nadkarni break down the series so far, and what to expect moving forward.

Nadkarni: The real answer is it is a combination of both. At the same time, if we’re splitting up the accountability pie, the Celtics deserve more scorn for blowing the first two games.

Simply put, Boston has made only 25 of its 100 3-point attempts this series. If the Celtics were shooting only 30% — which would still be far below their regular-season average and by far the worst of any team in the NBA — they are probably up 2-0 in this series. I don’t want to get too reductive and say “make shots”... but also, make some shots!