BOSTON (Interstat) — Jayson Tatum scored 36 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out seven assists in 37 minutes, and the Boston Celtics held off the New York Knicks 107-103 at TD Garden on Friday. Boston improved to 1-1, while New York fell to 0-2. The game was played before an announced attendance of 19,156. Tatum, Boston’s top star and a forward, finished with a game-high scoring total and helped the Celtics withstand a late New York rally. Tatum had 13 points and 11 assists in Boston’s season-opening loss at Detroit. New York opened its season with a home loss to Philadelphia.

New York’s forward OG Anunoby had 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 34 minutes. Center Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes, guard Miles McBride scored 20 points in 30 minutes off the bench, and guard Josh Hart contributed 10 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in 36 minutes. Boston’s center Neemias Queta had 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks in 22 minutes, and forward Paul George added 15 points and seven rebounds in 34 minutes. New York’s guard Jalen Brunson scored 19 points with four assists in 37 minutes. Boston’s guard Derrick White had 12 points, four rebounds and six assists in 33 minutes, and center Mitchell Robinson contributed four points and four rebounds in 22 minutes.

Boston scored the first four points on a 13-foot two-point shot by Tatum and a two-point basket by George. New York answered with a 31-foot 3-pointer from Towns, but Tatum hit a 22-foot 3-pointer. Brunson made an 18-foot pullup, Robinson made a two-point shot, and Anunoby made a driving layup. Anunoby’s two free throws tied the score at 9. Queta made a free throw, Brunson made two free throws, and White made a tip shot. Towns made a 15-foot turnaround and a dunk, and his free throw gave New York a 16-12 lead. Tatum made a two-point shot, McBride hit a 24-foot running jumper, Queta made a 10-foot hook shot, and McBride made two free throws. Hauser made a 22-foot running jumper, McBride hit a 23-foot 3-pointer, Queta made two free throws, Scheierman made a 22-foot pullup, Anunoby made a free throw, Garza hit a 22-foot 3-pointer, and Drummond dunked to close the first-quarter scoring and give New York a one-point lead. Boston’s Luka Garza made a 3-pointer and a two-point shot early in the second quarter, and Hauser hit a 27-foot 3-pointer to help Boston build a 34-29 advantage. New York’s Jose Alvarado made a driving floater, and Anunoby hit a 26-foot 3-pointer to keep the Knicks close. Boston went ahead 39-31 on Pritchard’s 26-foot 3-pointer, but New York responded with a 10-2 run. Hart’s 10-foot pullup tied the score at 41, and after Boston rebuilt a 47-41 lead on baskets by Tatum and Queta, New York closed the half with a 3-pointer and a 10-foot shot from Hart to take a 49-47 lead. George hit a 24-foot 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give Boston a 50-49 lead.

Boston created separation in the third quarter. Anunoby opened the second half with a layup and a 24-foot 3-pointer, but Boston answered with a 3-pointer from Jordan Walsh, a turnaround from Tatum and a 3-pointer from White. Tatum added two more baskets, and Boston pushed its lead to 64-57. New York cut the deficit with a 26-foot 3-pointer from Towns, and after George made a running layup and a dunk, Brunson and McBride hit 3-pointers to keep the Knicks close. Boston closed the third quarter on a 10-3 run. Tatum made two free throws, a technical free throw and a driving dunk, and Queta added a 22-foot 3-pointer as Boston carried an 83-73 lead into the fourth.

New York responded with a determined rally. Early in the fourth, McBride made a 22-foot running jumper to cut Boston’s lead to 86-79, but George answered with a 25-foot 3-pointer and Robinson dunked off an alley-oop to push the lead to 91-79. Towns made a driving layup and a free throw, and Queta completed a three-point play to extend Boston’s lead to 94-82 with 8:01 remaining. Landry Shamet hit a 14-foot pullup and a 22-foot 3-pointer, Towns converted two tip shots and a driving layup, and the Knicks cut the deficit to 94-91 on Towns’ tip dunk with 4:09 left. After Tatum made a driving layup, Brunson answered with a 15-foot pullup. George then hit a 23-foot 3-pointer to push Boston’s lead to 99-93 with 2:54 remaining. Hart made a 27-foot 3-pointer with 2:26 left to cut the margin to 99-96, and Brunson’s 11-foot pullup with 1:41 remaining brought New York within 99-98.

Tatum then delivered the decisive sequence. He made a 19-foot two-point shot with 1:24 left and an 18-foot jumper with 49.7 seconds remaining to give Boston a 103-98 lead. Anunoby made two free throws with 45.0 seconds left to cut the deficit to 103-100, but Tatum answered with a 25-foot 3-pointer with 30.2 seconds remaining. McBride made a 25-foot 3-pointer with 13.9 seconds left to bring New York within 106-103, and Pritchard made the first of two free throws with 11.2 seconds remaining to seal the final margin. New York could not complete the comeback despite McBride’s late 3-pointer. Boston evened its record after dropping its opener at Detroit, while New York remained winless after a home loss to Philadelphia.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Boston Celtics 105, New York Knicks 100. Interstat’s ELO system had projected New York with an 82 percent probability to win. Boston had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -2.5. The total score of 210 went over the over/under line of 221.5.