The champs aren’t done yet.
Staring down elimination for the first time in two years and missing their top star, the Boston Celtics showed out in the second half of Game 5, lighting up the Knicks’ defense and cruising to a 127-102 win on Wednesday.
With Jayson Tatum sidelined by a torn Achilles from Game 4 and Kristaps Porziņģis still dealing with a mystery illness, Boston needed the squad to rally, and they did. Derrick White dropped 34 points, Jaylen Brown flexed with a career-best 12 assists, and Luke Kornet swatted a personal-high seven blocks.
The Knicks still lead the series 3-2 and get another shot to close it out at MSG on Friday (8 ET, ESPN). But across five games, they’re now trailing by a total of 35 points on the scoreboard.
Here’s a breakdown of key stats, quotes, and clips after the Knicks took their first playoff L on the road.
Celtics come out blazing after the break…
Despite having a positive point differential in the first four games of the series, Boston had been getting wrecked after halftime, outscored by 51 points total, or 25.7 per 100 possessions. They had been cooking in the first half, putting up 128.4 points per 100 possessions, but flatlined in the second half and OT, managing just 94.7. The Knicks came back from double-digit deficits in all three of their wins.
Game 5 flipped the script. For the first time, the Celtics weren’t sitting on a halftime lead. They went into the break tied at 59. And for the first time in the series, their second-half offense didn’t disappear.
They went beast mode. Boston dropped 22 points on their first nine possessions of the third quarter, turning a tied game into a 13-point cushion that only grew from there.
Even with three missed free throws in that stretch, they shot 5-of-6 from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 from deep. Across those nine trips, they took 12 free throws and missed just three.
The first 3rd quarter possession set the tone: Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown double-teamed Jalen Brunson in the paint, sandwiching an offensive board between a missed Holiday free throw and a bucket.
Then Boston started pushing the pace even after Josh Hart hit the three, the Celtics rushed the ball upcourt, Al Horford kicked it back to a trailing Derrick White (already 5-of-9 from deep), and the Knicks totally spaced on finding him in transition. Splash, Celtics by six.
A couple plays later, White cashed in another transition three as Boston kept their foot on the gas.
Per Synergy tracking, the Celtics dominated the transition game Wednesday, outscoring the Knicks 31-9 on the break. Over the last three games, Boston has racked up 80 points on just 52 transition possessions, an insane 1.54 points per trip. They’ve been cooking on the open floor.
Kornet steps up big with Porziņģis sidelined
Porziņģis had been battling through his issues, even logging late minutes in Game 4, while Kornet had averaged just over 13 minutes in the first four games, mostly looking like he was there to burn fouls on Mitchell Robinson.
With Tatum out in Game 5, Porziņģis got his first start since Game 1, but couldn’t make it past halftime.
“He couldn’t breathe,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said afterward. “He was available [only] if absolutely necessary.”
Turns out, it wasn’t. Even after Horford picked up his fourth foul early in the third, Kornet came in and delivered right away. He clocked a playoff career-high 25 minutes and 38 seconds, dropping 10 points, pulling in nine boards, and swatting a wild seven shots.
“He came in and seemed to always be in the right position,” White said of Kornet. “Seven blocks is crazy. He was unbelievable tonight and really stepped up when we needed him.”
Five of those blocks came during the third-quarter takeover. The first was a textbook defense on a tricky “Spain” pick-and-roll the Knicks ran. Hart screened for Brunson, then tried to screen off Kornet. But Kornet read it like a pro, dodged the screen, stayed in front of the drive, and never bit on Hart’s hesitation.
Towns tried to bully Jrue Holiday in the paint, but Kornet slid in and shut that down too. Big-time energy.
On Jaylen Brown’s side, he took charge on both ends like he always does, however, he didn’t try to go full hero mode to cover for Tatum’s scoring absence. The first big shift came on defense. He took on the task of guarding Jalen Brunson right from the jump instead of Holiday or White.
While slowing Brunson down is a team effort, Brown’s extra length clearly made a difference. After dropping 39 in Game 4, Brunson was held to just 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting.
The Knicks ran 41 ball screens for Brunson, but Brown wasn’t about to switch off easily. On the same third-quarter play where Kornet swatted Towns, Brown fought through Hart’s screen and kept Brunson from getting a clean look.
“My goal was just to stay between him and the basket,” Brown said. “I feel like I can guard with the best of them.”
Offensively, Brown was in his bag as a playmaker. He tallied 12 assists, just one shy of what he had totaled across the first four games combined. Rather than forcing tough shots, he kept it smart and made solid reads whenever he created space.
And his defensive assignment gave him some chances to flip the script in transition. With Brown covering Brunson, there were moments when the Knicks guard ended up switched onto him on the break.
One key example came in the first quarter: Brown backed Brunson down, spun into the lane, pulled in extra defenders, and dished a slick wraparound to Kornet for the easy bucket.
When asked to define his role along with Tatum, Brown said, “Get it done in multiple ways … Whatever is needed, I’m excited to facilitate in whatever role.”
From that point on, the Cletics dominated from deep.
Overall, the Celtics had every excuse to check out and start thinking about vacation. Most teams would’ve folded down 3-1, their star goes down with a brutal injury, momentum drops with the Knicks in front. We’ve seen that kind of collapse a million times.
But that’s not how champs roll…They dig in, block out the noise, and do whatever it takes to stay alive, and that’s exactly what Boston did. It was one of the most fired-up, gutsy 48 minutes of basketball you’ll ever witness.
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