Thorn in their side

BOSTON — Avery Bradley said following Tuesday’s practice that the closest comparison he could think of to the recent scoring run of Celtics teammate Isaiah Thomas was Derrick Rose’s 2011 MVP season.

On Wednesday night at TD Garden, Rose turned back the clock on his aging knees and legs, and broke Boston’s back, with a takeover performance in a 117-106 victory for the Knicks.

Rose scored 30 points with 10 rebounds and five assists — showing off his newfound savvy around the basket to go along with a burst he seemed to conjure from a bygone era — as the Knicks snapped Boston’s three-game win streak.

“The more desperate team — the better team — the more aggressive team tonight won,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “As much as we were a dud, I thought they were very good. It’s usually a bad combination.”

Thomas scored 39 points with five 3-pointers, but his recent fourth-quarter heroics were slow to develop and could not match those of Rose and a Knicks team that outrebounded the Celtics, 57-33.

“It’s crazy that they played small and they still out-rebounded us by, like, 20 or something,” said Celtics forward Jae Crowder. “They just wanted it more. It wasn’t about matchups. It wasn’t about anything like that. It was just one team wanted it more and those guys wanted it more.”

“If we make enough shots to win tonight,” Stevens added, “and get outrebounded the way we did, it’s a travesty that we win the game. The team that deserved to win the game won.”

Al Horford struggled mightily from the floor, shooting 2-for-14, but had 10 assists and seven rebounds. Crowder scored 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting and Jaylen Brown had 12 off the bench for Boston. The Celtics were without Bradley, who was a late scratch after his right Achilles tightened shortly before the game.

“He was really sore,” Stevens said. “He went through our walk-through, and came out to the court and did some stuff, and was more sore today than he has been.

“I could see him missing a little bit more time. I think maybe he came back a little bit too early. But nothing structurally bad, just still a pulled Achilles.”

Down by as many as a dozen in the third quarter, the Celtics got within one on a pair of Thomas free throws with 8:55 left. Brown’s free throws answered a Rose basket for another one-point spread before Justin Holiday drained a 3-pointer with 7:33 remaining.

Courtney Lee’s 3-pointer made it 103-96 with 7:10 left.

“It was very frustrating,” Brown said. “It’s a game that we should have won. I think we a little bit underestimated our opponent. They came out and got going, got in a rhythm, and at that point it’s too late.

“We’ve got to come out and be a better team than that. Even though we played badly, we still had a lot of opportunities to win.”

Thomas missed his fourth straight shot to start the fourth quarter and Rose fought for a put-back and nine-point lead. Crowder then got to the line and cut the gap to 105-98 with 5:57 to go. Rose got to the line with 5:45 left to restore the nine-point lead before Thomas drove for his first basket of the quarter.

C a r m e l o A n t h o n y ’ s 3-pointer made it 110-100 with 5:24 remaining. After Horford missed his 12th shot in 13 attempts on the night, Rose hit a shot in the lane to give the Knicks a 12-point lead with 4:04 left.

It was a double-digit difference most of the rest of the way as the Celtics lost for just the second time in nine games, and fourth time in their last 17.

“From the halfway point to the end of the fourth quarter they were the harder-playing team,” Thomas said. “That’s why we lost tonight.”