Celtics reporters blame ‘the rain’ for Game 1 loss to Knicks

Rain, rain, go away.

The dreary conditions in Boston for the Celtics’ shocking Game 1 loss to the Knicks came up in an NBC Boston postgame recap of what went wrong in the 108-105 overtime setback.

Hosts Chris Forsberg and Abby Chin discussed how the rain factored into the underwhelming crowd at the beginning of the contest, providing an atmosphere that did not meet the moment.

The weather tangent oddly began while discussing Kristaps Porzingis’ short stint due to his illness.

“Much like this crowd in general, it just didn’t have the same zest to start the game,” Forsberg said after referencing Porzingis’ 34-point outburst against the Knicks at MSG on April 8.

Chin responded: “I agree. I think it was the 7 o’clock start, that’s what I’m blaming. Seven o’clock on a Monday.”

Forsberg then mentioned the rain.

“Yeah, dreary day outside, there were a lot of open seats when the anthem was sung,” Chin said. “I’m going to blame it on that, despite the fact there should be juice in this series.”

A lot went wrong for the Celtics in Game 1, which the pair dived into in their analysis, but the lack of a raucous crowd can be a factor in these tight playoff games.

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The Post’s Zach Braziller noted how the crowd in Boston paled to that in Detroit, although that didn’t seem to matter much when the Celtics stormed to a 20-point third-quarter lead.

No matter the crowd, the weather or any other factor, Game 1 ultimately boiled down to the Celtics’ missing the most amount of 3’s in NBA playoff history — most without much contest from the Knicks.

Boston hit just 15 of 60 3-point attempts (25 percent), which allowed the Knicks to creep back in the game while they made 17 of their 37 attempts (45.9 percent).

“I thought throughout the night, for the most part, we fought for good looks throughout the game,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.

Game 2 is set for Wednesday in Boston with the Celtics installed as heavy 10.5-point favorites at BetMGM.

Unfortunately for Boston, it’s another 7pm start though the weather forecast is much more optimistic: Partly cloudy and a seasonal 68 degrees.

For those concerned, the forecast is cloudy with a slight chance of rain in Boston.