BOSTON — The Celtics clearly played with desperation in their eyes even without their best player. Boosted by the TD Garden crowd, the Celtics beat the Knicks 127-102 in Game 5 on Wednesday to keep their season alive and stave off elimination. The C’s inched closer to the Knicks, cutting it to a 3-2 series deficit in the East semifinals.
The Celtics were without Jayson Tatum as he had surgery to repair his ruptured right Achilles tendon from Game 4. That put plenty of pressure on the C’s supporting cast, a talented group even if they’re without their first-team All-NBA talent. And the C’s were prepared for the stage Wednesday.
The first half was a back-and-forth thriller as the teams exchanged body blows. The Knicks looked like they were going to string together a run for a big lead, but instead, Jaylen Brown took over for stretches. Paired with a big night from Derrick White led to a tie game going into the break.
But the Celtics blew the game open in the third quarter, outscoring the Knicks 32-17. Luke Kornet had the game of his life as he was everywhere swatting away shots near the rim. There would be no collapse this time as the Celtics executed their way to the victory Wednesday to live to at least another game.
Brown led the way with 26 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists. White added another 34 points and Kornet was excellent to bring the crowd to life (more on him later). Josh Hart had 24 points and seven rebounds while Jalen Brunson added 22 points and six rebounds before fouling out.
Game 6 of the series is set for 8 p.m. Friday at Madison Square Garden. Here are four takeaways from Boston’s win over New York:
Staying alive: The Celtics can’t afford to lose the rest of this series and they played with gusto and spirited play all night. There was a decent Knicks contingent in Boston, but the Celtics made sure they went home with their heads down. Brown was excellent setting the pace, including some much-needed playmaking early. White shot away from 3-point land to get the crowd in it with four early 3s. That was all enough to keep the Celtics’ season going even though it was a dark couple days for the organization after Game 4. Notably, at the very least, the Celtics didn’t get swept at home in the East semifinals after dropping Games 1 and 2 in Boston in shocking fashion.
Stepping up: Somebody needed to step up with Tatum unavailable, and there were plenty of guys who did. But perhaps no bench guy brought the fans more joy than Kornet throughout the night. The big man finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks as he was a force on both ends of the court. Kornet also finished a plus-20 in his 25 minutes. C’s coach Joe Mazzulla elected to start the second half with Kornet as the big man delivered with a big-time performance with the season on the line. With Kornet set to be a free agent this summer, he certainly gave the front office an extended look in Game 5 of what he can provide.
On the bench: Once again, Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t good enough. While he had a positive illness update following Game 4, his play on the court was rough Wednesday. That resulted in the big man not playing in the second half, though he did get the start. Porzingis finished with 12 minutes, putting up one point, one rebound and one block while shooting 0-for-3 from the field and 0-for-2 on 3s. He was also a minus-12 on the night as he couldn’t make an impact while on the court.
No collapse: The last time the Celtics were in front of their home crowd, they dropped walked off the court after blowing back-to-back huge leads. But that wouldn’t happen this time. The Celtics also shot 22-for-49 (44.9%) on 3-pointers as that helped their cause throughout the night. Plus, it helps getting heroics across the roster as nobody went cold. Even if the C’s don’t return for Game 7 back on their home court, they at least gave their fans something to cheer about after the devastating Tatum injury from two days prior.