Gallinari's 31 points lead Knicks over Celtics

The real New York-Boston rivalry played out at Fenway Park last night, where the Red Sox and Yankees already seem to be battling for something just two games into the season. At the Garden, the New York-Boston matchup played out with notable passion, but with much different goals.

The Knicks' 104-101 win kept them from clinching a 50-loss season - a third straight - at bay for at least one more game. The Celtics (48-29) still are trying to reach the 50-win mark for a third straight season.

Though this hardly can be considered a rivalry, the Knicks are the only Atlantic Division team to hand the Celtics a road loss in the last two seasons. Boston is 21-2 on the road against division opponents, with their only losses coming Jan. 4, 2009, and now last night.

Considering the passion for basketball in both cities, how intense would a Knicks-Celtics rivalry be if both teams were battling for Atlantic Division supremacy?

"That's what I envision here in New York; that's what I'd like to see," Donnie Walsh said. "That's why I'm here, really, to see if I can do that. I'm not trying to just make it a little better."

Danilo Gallinari had a career-high 31 points, including a long-range jumper that banked in with 36.8 seconds left to give the Knicks a 102-101 lead. After Paul Pierce turned the ball over, David Lee scored against Kevin Garnett to make it a three-point lead with 7.3 seconds left. On Boston's final possession, Rasheed Wallace could not get off a three-point attempt before the buzzer. The Knicks (28-49) were winners of consecutive games for only the third time in the 2010 calendar year.

In a performance that came out of nowhere, D-League call-up Earl Barron, who was thrust into a starting role when Al Harrington (sore left ankle) was a late scratch, played a team-high 44 minutes and had 17 points and a career-best 18 rebounds. Lee had 13 points and 11 rebounds and struggled with his shot (6-for-16).

Ray Allen led the Celtics with 17 points. Nate Robinson had five points and five assists in 14 minutes in his Garden return since he was traded Feb. 18. The former Knicks fan favorite received mostly polite applause from the Garden crowd when he was announced before entering the game in the first quarter.

Doc Rivers didn't seem all that thrilled with playing Robinson, whom he benched in Sunday's win over the Cavaliers, but said he would play him because "the other guys [on our team] would like to see him play." Rivers isn't totally down on Robinson, who is averaging just 6.1 points in 21 games with the Celtics and struggling to adjust to their team-concept philosophy.

"I still look at him as an X-factor for us," Rivers said. "We didn't play him the other night, but I know there'll be a game in the future, in the playoffs, where he'll come in and have a big game for us."

Notes & quotes: Tracy McGrady sat out a second straight game with pain in his left thigh (IT band), which is a residual effect of his surgically repaired knee. He is questionable for tonight's game in Indiana, as well.