Knicks beat Celtics 119-81 in Game 6 and advance to face Pacers in Eastern Conference finals

NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks viewed reaching the Eastern Conference finals as just another step in a season that's not over. It's not time to celebrate.

Try telling that to the thousands of fans dancing and chanting inside and on the streets all around Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks reached the conference finals for the first time in 25 years and ended the one-year NBA title reign of the Boston Celtics with astonishing ease, rolling to a 119-81 victory in Game 6 on Friday night.

On the way to their postgame press conference, Josh Hart showed Mikal Bridges a video of a fan climbing a light pole outside the arena.

"I’m new here but just know how much New York loves their sports, especially the Knicks," Bridges said. “So, excited to be a part of it. They enjoy it for us right now but obviously we got way more to go.”

Brunson and OG Anunoby each scored 23 points for the Knicks, who will face the Indiana Pacers, the same team they met in their last conference finals appearance in 2000. Game 1 is Wednesday night in New York.

“It’s a great win. We advance .You look at that, but you also understand you have to get ready for the next series," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The Pacers are a terrific team and we’re going to have to be ready.”

The Knicks hadn’t won a playoff series on their home floor since the 1999 East finals. So the celebrating started late in the one-sided first half and was sure to carry on deep into the night around the arena.

Bridges scored 22 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 for the Knicks, whose 38-point margin of victory was their largest in a postseason game.

Jaylen Brown scored 20 points for the Celtics, who lost leading scorer Jayson Tatum to a ruptured Achilles tendon in Game 4 but believed they still had enough to get it back to Boston for Game 7 and keep their title defense alive.

It was quickly clear that wasn’t happening. Boston coach Joe Mazzulla began pulling his starters in the third quarter after the deficit reached 41 points.

“We didn’t have the same team this year that we had last year," Celtics guard Derrick White said. "Every year it’s a different team. We had a goal at the beginning of the year and we fell short.”

New York blew it open with a 13-3 run that made it 49-27, a surge highlighted by 6-foot-1 guard Deuce McBride’s chasedown block of White’s shot that led to Hart’s second straight basket while being fouled.

Ben Stiller and Lenny Kravitz shared a handshake and hug afterward along celebrity row, where the A-listers were standing and cheering much of the night, the same as the fans sitting near the top of the arena.

The Knicks led 64-37 at halftime, a 27-point lead that matched their biggest in a playoff game in the shot-clock era. They led the Lakers 69-42 in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, when Willis Reed’s return from injury sparked the Knicks to their first NBA title.

Hart finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

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Boston Celtics' Payton Pritchard (11) drives past New York Knicks' OG Anunoby (8) during the second half of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) drives to the basket during the first half of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Boston Celtics Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown (7) fights for control of the ball with New York Knicks' Josh Hart (3) during the first half of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson, left, drives past Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown (7) during the second half of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson (11) gestures to fans during the second half of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Boston Celtics Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)