Knicks beat Celtics without Jayson Tatum for second win

Maybe Tom Thibodeau was helping his old team after all.

for him Last visit with the Celticswhen it collapsed how the Knicks beat them last spring, it didn’t do much good.

In fact, in the first meeting between the two teams since the Knicks sent Boston home last May, not much has changed.

The Celtics still don’t have Jayson Tatum, and without the injured star, they don’t have much of a chance in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Game 6, or Friday night.

The Knicks overcame a quiet first quarter to beat the Celtics 105-95 at the Garden, then improved to 2-0 under new coach Mike Brown in the new season.

At the morning shootaround, Jaylen Brown said he was looking forward to returning to MSG.

“Tonight should be fun,” the All-Star wing said.

It was for the home team and their fans.

The Knicks trailed by eight points in the first quarter, and turned the score around to reduce their lead to 42-14 in the second quarter, which ended with a 20-point lead.

The Knicks scored eight and had 10 assists on 12 made baskets.

It started with an 11-0 run that at one point extended to 28-6.

They hit six 3-pointers in the period — OG Anunoby and Jordan Clarkson each made two of them — while the Celtics made four field goals total in the aforementioned 12 minutes.

At the buzzer, Jaylen Brown lost his defender on a great move in the lane. But he barely scratched the edge with the shot. It was that kind of quarter for both teams.

The Celtics never recovered. They barely threatened the Knicks after halftime.

The closest they got was nine in the final minute of the fourth quarter.

Really, the Knicks played them up, looking like the superior team in every way, even without quarterback Mitchell Robinson. Despite shooting just 38 percent from the field and committing 15 turnovers, they still barely broke a sweat. It was a mismatch on the glass, as the Knicks outscored the Celtics by 17 points and turned 21 offensive rebounds into 23 second-chance points.

Similar to the season-opening win over the Cavaliers, the Knicks showed offensive balance and a strengthened bench.

Jalen Brunson scored 31 points and five assists, Karl-Anthony Towns added 26 points, 13 rebounds and three assists, and Mikal Bridges added 12 points. Tyler Kulek (four assists) and Josh Hart (14 rebounds and three assists) provided the spark for the second unit.

The only negative came late in the fourth quarter, when Anunoby was seen limping and not returning.

He was seen riding a stationary bike in the tunnel in the final seconds.