In what felt like a playoff atmosphere, the Knicks held on to a 112-106 win over the Celtics on Thursday night at MSG.

Josh Hart scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead New York to a big win against their conference rivals. With the win, the Knicks remain within reach of the Celtics for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Knicks (52-28) have surpassed the win total from last season with two games to go.

Here are the takeaways...

-The Knicks' plan to start was to attack in transition, with Mikal Bridges scoring the first seven points of the game. The Celtics responded with a 9-0 run to tie the game with good defense and offensive rebounding. Boston would build a seven-point lead midway through the first frame thanks to outhustling the Knicks and getting every 50-50 ball, but New York would make their run.

The first quarter ended with Payton Pritchard and Jalen Brunson trading threes in the final minute as the Celtics led 29-26 at the end of one.

Pritchard was the catalyst for the Celtics' offense in the first. He put up 11 points in six minutes off the bench to lead the team. The Knicks were shooting just 34 percent when Boston had their biggest lead, but bounced back and finished the frame with 45 percent shooting. Brunson led the team with 10 points.

-The Knicks got out to a 7-0 run to start the second (10-0 run from the end of the first) to retake the lead. Both offenses will settle down, as they traded leads throughout the quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns wouldn't get his first points until midway through the second, but it wouldn't be his last. The two-man game between him and Brunson was effective and helped give the Knicks a five-point lead in the waning minutes, but a late surge by the Celtics helped them to trail by just one at halftime.

Pritchard (15) and Tatum (10) led the Celtics as they outrebounded the Knicks 29-25 after two quarters. Brunson (16) and OG Anunoby (10) led the Knicks in scoring.

-The Knicks built up a nine-point lead in the opening minutes of the third because of the three-point shot. That lead would balloon to 13 as Towns started to take over the game with his rebounding and drives to the basket. The Celtics responded after a timeout halfway through the third with a 10-0 run as their threes began to fall. That run extended to 19-4 as they retook the lead with two minutes remaining. Boston took that momentum to end the third with an 83-81 lead.

-The Celtics would get out to a seven-point lead early in the fourth as the Knicks could not get a stop. The Knicks made a run of their own to cut the deficit to two points with seven minutes remaining. Both teams traded buckets with New York taking advantage of Boston's turnovers to hold a 106-104 lead with 1:26 remaining in the game.

Hart hit two threes in the final minute to help the Knicks pull out the win.

-Hart finished with 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting (5 of 7 from three). Towns posted 16 points and 12 rebounds while Brunson had 25 points and 10 assists.

-The Celtics were without Jaylen Brown, and Tatum returned to MSG for the first time since tearing his Achilles in the playoffs last year. Tatum finished with a team-high 24 points on 7 of 22 shooting, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Pritchard scored 23 points in 35 minutes off the bench. Baylor Scheierman helped keep the Celtics in the game in the fourth with his three-point shooting. He finished with a season-high 20 points and went 6 of 7 from downtown.

Game MVP: Josh Hart

Hart's scoring in the second half, and especially in the fourth, pushed the Knicks over the top. His defense on Tatum also helped finish up the win.

Here are the takeaways...

Game MVP: Josh Hart

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