A taste of their own cereal: Knicks 89, Celtics 86

So now they're even.

The drama is over, Carmelo Anthony will most likely be reimbursed for the money lost for his one-game suspension, and the Knicks (26-14) got revenge on Boston's home floor after defeating the Celtics (20-22), 89-86.

It wasn't exactly the prettiest performance, but it was fun to watch.

You never want to lose, but if you're a Celtics fan, you have to be encouraged with Boston's performance. They played decent defense and did what they had to do to stick around with one of the best teams in the league. The inability of the offense to execute down the stretch and costly turnovers were the only real issues with this game, but there's nothing you can do about missed shots, and turnovers can be easily corrected.

Like I said, don't panic, green teamers. The Celtics are getting there. Slowly but surely.

Here's a recap:

The good:

* Rajon Rondo did not disappoint. He registered his NBA-leading 4th triple-double of the season and 27th of his career, finishing with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. 20 of Rondo's 27 triple-doubles have now come on national television. Rondo made some huge jump shots and layups down the stretch, and he did all he could to keep Boston in the game.

* Although his shots weren't falling, Kevin Garnett played with a lot of energy tonight. He looked rejuvenated, far from the shell of himself that has donned the number 5 jersey for the past week. His defense was up to par and grabbed rebounds at will. He finished with a team-high 12.

* Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points, but it took him 28 shots to get there. Anthony finished the game 11-of-28. In the two games against the Celtics, Anthony is 17-of-54. In the first half, Anthony got good looks, but he just missed shots. In the second half, the Celtics -- particularly Jeff Green -- did a great jump of making things difficult for Anthony,

* Before tonight's game, the NBA All-Star reserves were announced, and Paul Pierce was not selected as a reserve for the first time since 2007. With the way he played tonight, Pierce played as if he was sending a message to the league that he deserved to be on the team. The captain finished with 22 points and 6 rebounds. But Pierce's performance was not all that great...

* Holding the 8th-best scoring team in the league to 89 points is no small feat.

* Boston even held their own on the glass, only getting outrebounded by 3, 49-46.

* The Celtics (finally) made an adjustment and stopped taking jump shots. Boston scored 50 points in the paint, a reflection of ball movement, movement without the ball, and aggressiveness. That's a great sign for Boston, and if they continue this trend, they'll be out of this funk in no time.

The bad:

* Paul Pierce turned the ball over twice in the final minute. Not what you would expect from an experienced veteran in the final minute of a crucial game.

* If you're able to hold a high octane offense like New York's to only 89 points and 38%, you need to win that game. The Celtics were not able to knock down shots, and they committed 8 turnovers in the second half.

Boston has a tough road ahead of them. They will fly to Atlanta tonight and take on the Hawks on Friday night, before the long-awaited Ray Allen and the Miami Heat on Sunday afternoon.