Knicks blow out Celtics in Game 6 to book first trip to Eastern Conference finals since 2000

NEW YORK — About an hour before Game 6 at Madison Square Garden, Spike Lee summed it up succinctly.

“Too long,” the Oscar-winning filmmaker and decades-long Knicks superfan told the New York Daily News from his courtside seat.

Too long since the Knicks had played a game this meaningful at the Garden.

Too long since they delivered a deep playoff run.

Just too long.

But on Friday night, in front of a deafening sellout crowd, the Knicks met the moment.

The Knicks blew out the defending champion Boston Celtics, 119-81, in Game 6 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000. It was the largest margin of victory in Knicks playoff history.

Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby tied for the team lead with 23 points apiece, while Mikal Bridges added 22.

An aggressive Karl-Anthony Towns gave the Knicks 21 points on 8-of-20 shooting with 12 rebounds.

Josh Hart became the first Knick to record a triple-double in a playoff game since Walt Frazier in 1972, finishing with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

And now they’ll face the Indiana Pacers with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.

Friday marked the Knicks’ first time closing out a playoff series at home since 1999.

The third-seeded Knicks had taken a 3-1 series lead over the second-seeded Celtics behind a trio of furious come-from-behind wins, erasing a second-half deficit of at least 14 points in each victory.

The Knicks’ 121-113 win in Game 4 was particularly devastating for the Celtics, who lost Jayson Tatum — their leader in points, rebounds and assists per game — to a right Achilles tear in the waning minutes.

The Celtics rallied around their fallen superstar with a 127-102 win in Game 5 in Boston, using a balanced attack fueled by desperation to stave off elimination.

But the Knicks played with much more urgency in Game 6.

They jumped out to a 26-20 lead through one quarter, making a concerted effort to get Towns more involved.

After attempting only seven shots in the first three quarters of Game 5, Towns went 4 of 9 for 11 points in Friday’s first quarter.

Bridges, meanwhile, scored 10 points in the first quarter after finishing with nine in all of Game 5.

The Celtics kept the score close behind 13 first-quarter points by Jaylen Brown.

But Brown couldn’t do it by himself.

The Knicks pulled away during a rousing second quarter, outscoring the Celtics 38-17.

A chase-down block by Miles “Deuce” McBride against Derrick White turned into a transition floater for Hart, who drew a foul and finished the three-point play to put the Knicks up 47-27 with 5:10 before halftime.

About four minutes later, Towns made a driving layup through contact, then hit his free throw to give the Knicks a 60-34 advantage.

And in the final second of the half, McBride drilled a corner 3-pointer to give the Knicks a 64-37 lead at the break.

Brown had 18 points in the first half for Boston. No other Celtic scored more than five. The Celtics shot just 4 of 20 on 3-point attempts in the first half.

The Knicks continued their torrid surge to start the third quarter, with Anunoby scoring five quick points to cap a 33-13 run.

They would rattle off a separate 11-0 run later in the quarter, with Brunson and Hart sinking 3-pointers and Towns completing another three-point play to open an 80-43 lead.

Brown fouled out with 2:50 left in the third quarter, with the game already well out of reach. He finished with 20 points to lead the Celtics.

The Knicks had lost their previous five playoff games in which they had a chance to close out an opponent at home. The Celtics, meanwhile, had won their last five elimination games on the road.

But Friday was all Knicks, who led by as many as 41 points.

Chants of “Knicks in 6” and “MVP” for Brunson roared from a Garden crowd in which many fans spent more than $500 just to get in. Timothée Chalamet, Bad Bunny, Ice Spice, Ben Stiller and Michael Strahan were among the celebrities in attendance.

Next up for the Knicks is a fourth-seeded Pacers team that just knocked out the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in five games.

The Pacers eliminated the Knicks in the second round last year, using their up-tempo attack and depth to win the series in seven games. The Knicks were ravaged by injuries in that series, right down to Game 7 when the left-handed Brunson broke his shooting hand.

The Knicks also played the Pacers in their previous three trips to the Eastern Conference finals. Lee was there to witness those series, famously trading jabs with Pacers star Reggie Miller during those back-and-forth battles.

And now a new generation of Knicks fans will get to experience their own iteration.

The series is set to begin with Game 1 on Wednesday night at the Garden.