BOSTON — Jaylen Brown scored a season-high 42 points, sealing the game with a breakaway dunk in the final seconds Tuesday night as the Boston Celtics beat the New York Knicks 123-117 in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference semifinal.

Derrick White scored seven of his 22 points in the last four minutes, helping the Celtics turn back a New York charge that cut a 15-point deficit to 102-99. Jordan Walsh had six points and five rebounds in the fourth quarter for Boston.

Mikal Bridges scored 17 of his 35 points in the fourth and went 8 for 12 from 3-point range overall. Karl-Anthony Towns added 29 points for the Knicks, who had won four in a row.

Boston has won four of its last five games, beating four of the top six teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Knicks took off to a 17-4 lead and led 39-25 before Boston scored the next 12 points and later got seven in a row, taking a 47-46 lead on Brown’s dunk that woke up the crowd. Brown scored 18 points in the second quarter and 15 in the third.

Boston led by 18 after three quarters and had a 102-87 advantage with eight minutes left before Bridges hit a 3-pointer and followed it with three free throws, then drilled another 3 to make it 102-99 and finish off a 12-0 run.

But Boston came out of a timeout with Josh Minott’s 3-pointer, then Walsh scored on back-to-back putbacks to give the Celtics an eight-point lead. Bridges hit a 3 to make it a four-point game with 46 seconds left, but he missed one on New York’s next possession with a chance to cut the deficit to one.

Up next

The Knicks host the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.

The Celtics visit Washington on Thursday night.