With the loss, the Celtics continued a long NBA playoff streak. For the seventh year in a row, the league will not have a repeat champion. This also marks another year that the defending champions will not have gotten out of the second round. The last time that it happened with in 2019.

The New York Knicks thrashed the Boston Celtics 119-81 to send the defending champions crashing out of the NBA playoffs on Friday.New York will head into that best-of-seven series brimming with confidence after an electrifying performance that swept aside a Boston team who had dominated the Knicks in a game five win on Wednesday.

The Boston Celtics ' bid to retain their crown as NBA Champions ended in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs on Friday night, as the New York Knicks picked up a 119-81 win in Game 6 and eliminated the Celtics .