Center Luke Kornet came off the bench to make a major contribution to the Celtics' Game 5 win over the Knicks.
Center Luke Kornet came off the bench to make a major contribution to the Celtics' Game 5 win over the Knicks.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
With Jayson Tatum in a hospital bed recovering from Achilles’ surgery, with Knicks fans infiltrating TD Garden, and with the season on the line, the Celtics made it clear that they would not go off into the offseason quietly.
With the score tied at halftime, Boston used a dominant quarter to seize control and surge to a 14-point third-quarter lead for the fifth game in a row in this Eastern Conference semifinal against the Knicks. But this time, there would be no collapse.
Instead, the Celtics rolled to a 127-102 win to pull within 3-2 in the series. Game 6 will be played at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Derrick White poured in 34 points to lead the Celtics and Jaylen Brown added 26 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds. But the story of the night was the dominance of backup center Luke Kornet, who played the second half in place of the struggling Kristaps Porzingis and dazzled the crowd with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 7 blocked shots.
The score was tied at 59 at halftime when the Celtics held the Knicks to just 17 points in the third quarter, thanks in large part to Kornet’s five blocks.
If the Knicks had any hope of mounting another big comeback, they were probably erased when star point guard Jalen Brunson fouled out with 7:19 left. He waved to the crowd when he was shown on the video board afterward.
The Celtics shot 52.4 percent from the field and made 22 of 49 3-pointers. The Knicks, who led by as many as 9 points in the first half, were held to 35.8 percent shooting and mustered just 43 second-half points.
Observations from the game:
▪ Porzingis’s recent struggles continued at the start. He missed an open 3-pointer badly, was pushed off his spot on a post-up, was stripped by Towns, and missed a fairly easy layup. He finally got on the scoreboard by making 1 of 2 free throws in the final seconds but finished the first quarter 0 for 3 from the field, without a rebound. His rapid decline during this series, apparently related to fatigue caused by remnants of his March illness, has really hampered Boston.
▪ It was no surprise when Kornet started the second half in his place, but his performance was startling. Playing mostly as the lone big man, he turned into a steel curtain in the paint. Kornet was the only Celtic to play the entire period, and he registered five blocked shots, along with 4 points and five rebounds. Kornet is not an explosive leaper, but his timing is elite. Porzingis, meanwhile, remained on the bench.
▪ The Celtics would probably need an exceptional individual shooting performance in order to have a good chance, and White quickly made it clear that it could be him. Over the game’s first seven minutes the guard hit all four of his 3-point attempts and poured in 14 points. The quickness on his catch-and-release jumpers probably does not get enough attention.
▪ Celtics backup wing Torrey Craig checked in with 3:30 left in the opening quarter for his first meaningful stint of these playoffs. But it turned out to be quite brief. With the Celtics shorthanded and already piling up fouls, Craig was inserted to intentionally foul Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson, whose struggles from the foul line during these playoffs have been well chronicled.
But this time, the approach did not work. Robinson, who entered the night just 11 for 38 from the line this postseason, hit both of those free throws and then connected on two more when Kornet fouled him soon after. The Knicks fans erupted. He hit two more in the third quarter, too.
When Robinson was not drilling free throws, he was dominating play elsewhere. In the first half he had 6 points and 11 rebounds, including six on the offensive end.
▪ Brown essentially filled Tatum’s rotation spot by playing the entire first quarter and then sitting the first few minutes of the second. He mostly ceded to White during his first stint, but his second was dominant. Brown poured in 12 points in just nine second-quarter minutes and went to halftime 3 for 3 from the 3-point line, with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. He was playing with the force that the Celtics desperately needed.
▪ On the bright side, the Celtics made 12 of 25 first-half 3-pointers, setting them on pace to tie their second-best total of the regular season. On the other hand, the score was tied at 59 at the break despite that scorching shooting. The Knicks took more shots, committed fewer turnovers, grabbed more offensive rebounds, and had more second-chance points, all of which are Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla’s points of emphasis.
▪ Towns commits some puzzling fouls that really hurt his team. He already had two early in the second quarter when White blocked his 3-point attempt and Towns plowed into White while going after the loose ball. He sat the rest of the half, and the Knicks’ 6-point lead was erased.
▪ The Celtics entered the free throw penalty with more than eight minutes left in both the second and third quarters. In the second, Brown wisely went right at Towns on a switch and drew the big man’s fourth foul. Towns stayed in the game this time, but he appeared hesitant on defense.
Brunson, meanwhile, entered the second half with no fouls. But they piled up in an instant. He somehow committed five over the first nine minutes of the third and sat for the final three minutes. The Celtics attempted 18 free throws in the third quarter but hit just 12.
The Knicks trailed, 91-76, when they put Brunson back onto the court in to start the fourth, but the Celtics quickly stretched their lead to 22.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.