Jaylen Brown said moves like the Knicks' addition of Mikal Bridges and the Cavs' addition of DeAndre Hunter are a source of motivation

The Celtics ruled out three starters for their Wednesday night matchup with the Trail Blazers, including Jayson Tatum’s first DNP since Dec. 23.

The Celtics now own a four-game lead over the Knicks and the head-to-head tiebreaker for the two-seed in the East (Boston still trails Cleveland by six games for the top seed). The two teams will square off one final time in the regular season when they meet at Madison Square Garden on April 8.

There’s been hype coming out of New York for months and yet still no substance after the Knicks were pelted for the third time this season by the Celtics.

The New York Knicks fell to 0-7 against the top three teams in the NBA this season, falling 118-105 to the Boston Celtics on Sunday at TD Garden.

Despite sitting third in the Eastern Conference with a strong 37-20 record, the Knicks have faltered against the NBA’s elite — a troubling trend with the playoffs looming.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led a balanced ... the clock in the final minute rather than stat-padding (even though Mikal Bridges was inexplicably firing away to try to trim the lead).

BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 25 points with 10 rebounds and nine ... The Knicks had whittled a 77-50 third-quarter deficit down to 95-89 on Mikal Bridges’ driving basket early in final quarter before the Celtics went on a 10-0 spree to take ...

Celtics withstand furious #Knicks run, get another win, 118-105. Jayson Tatum 25 (10 reb, 9 ast), Jaylen Brown 24, Derrick White 19, Kristaps Porzingis 15, Jrue Holiday 14;

BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 25 points with 10 ... The Knicks had whittled a 77-50 third-quarter deficit down to 95-89 on Mikal Bridges’ driving basket early in final quarter before ...

Jayson Tatum scored 25 points with 10 rebounds ... Knicks had whittled a 77-50 third-quarter deficit down to 95-89 on Mikal Bridges’ driving basket early in final quarter before the Celtics ...