NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – It appears it wasn’t mentioned to the Boston Celtics that they were supposed to go away quietly in the wake of Jayson Tatum’s devastating and season-ending Achilles injury.
The Celtics were loud and boisterous while facing elimination and won in dominant fashion Wednesday. Now, they have the opportunity to even the Eastern Conference semifinals at three games apiece when they visit the Knicks on Friday night in New York.
Tatum’s serious injury in Game 4 inspired Boston, which delivered a 127-102 home-court rout in Game 5.
The Celtics are 10-2 without Tatum this season, including 2-0 in the playoffs.
“It’s easy to kind of write things off,” Boston co-star Jaylen Brown said. “Obviously, unfortunate what happened to J.T., but we’ve still got basketball to be played. I believe in this group. Don’t count us out just yet.”
The lopsided Game 5 victory transfers the pressure to the Knicks, who need to wrap up the series Friday to avoid a Game 7 in Boston on Monday.
New York star Jalen Brunson could feel the urgency after his club was outscored by 25 points in the second half.
He also made it clear the Knicks didn’t relax due to Tatum’s misfortune.
“No, not at all. Yes, they are missing a big piece, but they are a well-oiled machine that has been in situations where they’ve played without him, and they’ve played well,” Brunson said. “We need to understand that and trust the game plan and play to win. It’s as simple as that.”
Brunson scored 22 points in Game 5 before fouling out with 7:19 left to play. Josh Hart led the team with 24 points and made five of nine 3-point attempts.
But the Knicks shot just 35.8 percent from the field with OG Anunoby (1-for-12, six points) and Mikal Bridges (4-for-14, 9 points) both having poor shooting outings.
“We’ve got to play desperate,” Bridges said. “I don’t think we did that,”
Meanwhile, the Celtics had six players score in double digits. Derrick White knocked down seven 3-pointers while scoring 34 points and Brown had 26 points with 12 assists and eight rebounds.
Kristaps Porzingis didn’t play in the second half due to ongoing issues with a viral illness. He had one point and one rebound in 12 first-half minutes. Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said Porzingis was having trouble breathing.
His departure proved to be a stroke of good luck as journeyman Luke Kornet stepped up in the second half and finished with 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots. The rejections were two shy of the franchise postseason record set by Robert Williams III a the 2021 first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets.
“I feel like it was just trying to make plays,” Kornet said. “Obviously, our season’s on the line, so I’m just trying to have a lot of energy, make plays. I feel like it was everybody. I feel like everybody stepped up and we were very connected and very aggressive and forceful and, obviously, did our job for the day. Now we have to get up and do it again, and it’ll require different things on Friday.”
Regardless of who Boston has on the floor, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau will be studying intently to make the right adjustments.
“They have a lot of shooting on the floor, that’s going to remain the same,” Thibodeau said. “The thing about their team is they are a great defensive team as well. We can’t be slow getting back and you can’t give open shots to them. We have to be closer with our close-outs and be better with our communication.”
Though New York still holds the series lead, Boston carries the momentum as it attempts to win its second straight elimination game.
“We did what was necessary to do and what we needed to do to get it back to New York,” Mazzulla said. “You don’t get to pick the test that you have, you pick how you respond to them.”
–Field Level Media