Sunday's 118-105 decision dropped them to 0-7 against the leading squads of the NBA (Boston, Cleveland, Oklahoma City) and their first instance of consecutive lost games since Jan. 3-6. A tense afternoon became downright horrifying when Karl-Anthony Towns limped to TD Garden's visitors' bench as Boston began its final push forward to victory.

The Knicks connected on just 43.5 percent of its shots and committed 11 turnovers in Sunday's loss to the Celtics. “The versatility, I think, is terrific,” Thibodeau said.

It’s again the hot-button topic with Thibodeau, who has always eschewed load management while elevating his teams to regular-season heights above expectations.