Boston survives a gut check in Game 5. Can they do it again to force a decisive Game 7?
The defending champs are still alive.
Facing elimination for the first time in two years and missing their best player, the Boston Celtics responded with a huge second half in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, torching the New York Knicks’ defense and cruising to a 127-102 victory on Wednesday.
With Jayson Tatum having suffered a torn right Achilles tendon late in Game 4 and Kristaps Porziņģis continuing to suffer the effects of an undisclosed illness, the Celtics needed multiple players to step up and save their season. They got just that, with Derrick White scoring 34 points, Jaylen Brown dishing out a career-high 12 assists and Luke Kornet blocking a career-high seven shots.
The Knicks are still up 3-2 and will have a second chance to close the series out at Madison Square Garden on Friday (8 ET, ESPN), but they’ve now been outscored by 35 points over the five games.
Here are some notes, quotes, numbers and film as the Knicks suffered their first road loss of the playoffs.
1. Celtics come out of the half on fire
Though they had a positive point differential overall over the first four games of this series, the Celtics had been outscored by 51 points (25.7 per 100 possessions) after halftime. They’d scored an ultra-efficient 128.4 points per 100 over 96 first-half minutes, but an anemic 94.7 per 100 over 101 second-half and overtime minutes, with the Knicks coming back from at least 14 points down in all three of their wins.
Game 5 was the first time that the Celtics didn’t lead by at least nine points at halftime; the score was tied at 59. It was also the first time that Boston didn’t struggle offensively in the second half.
It did just the opposite. The Celtics scored an amazing 22 points on their first nine possessions of the third quarter, turning a tie game into a 13-point lead they would continue to build upon.
They actually missed three free throws in that stretch, but shot 5-for-6 from the field, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range. And those three misses came on 12 attempts from the line over those nine possessions.
The Celtics got four points on their very first possession of the third period, with both Jrue Holiday and Brown bullying Jalen Brunson in the paint, with an offensive rebound on Holiday’s missed free throw in between.
Then the Celtics were able to get out in transition, even after made buckets on the other end of the floor.
After a Josh Hart 3 for the Knicks, the Celtics got the ball up the floor quickly and Al Horford got it back to a trailing White, who was already 5-for-9 from 3-point range at that point. The Knicks failed to find him in transition and he drained another 3 to put the Celtics up six …
A few possessions later, White had another transition 3 as the Celtics stayed hot.
Transition points on Wednesday, according to Synergy tracking, were 31-9 in favor of the Celtics, who have scored 80 points on 52 transition possessions (1.54 per) over the past three games.
2. Kornet steps up with Porziņģis unable to go
Though Porziņģis has been struggling, he was on the floor for most of the fourth quarter in Game 4 and Kornet had averaged only 13.1 minutes through the first four games. It seemed that his primary job in this series was to foul Mitchell Robinson.
With Tatum out on Wednesday, Porziņģis got his first start since Game 1. But at the start of the third quarter, he couldn’t go.
“He couldn’t breathe,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said afterward. “He was available [only] if absolutely necessary.”
It wasn’t necessary, even though Horford picked up his fourth foul less than two minutes into the second half. It wasn’t necessary because Kornet was terrific. He logged 25 minutes and 38 seconds, the most he’s played in 42 career playoff games. He scored 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked 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 seven blocks came in the game-changing third quarter. The first of those third-quarter blocks came at the end of a terrific defensive possession for the Celtics’ third big man.
The Knicks ran a “Spain” pick-and-roll, with Hart setting a ball screen for Brunson and OG Anunoby, then setting a back screen on Kornet. But Kornet saw the back screen coming and was able to avoid getting taken out of the play. Hart was open, but hesitated beyond the arc and Kornet was able to stay down and stay in front of his drive.
Towns had Jrue Holiday sealed under the basket, but Kornet recovered and denied his shot …
The real highlight came midway through the fourth quarter, when another big offensive run had the Celtics up 23. They ran their own Spain pick-and-roll, Towns got caught in the back screen, and Kornet rolled free to the basket for a reverse alley-oop dunk …
The seven blocks stood out, but the Celtics have also been at their best offensively in this series (124.7 points scored per 100 possessions) in Kornet’s 78 minutes on the floor.
3. Brown takes on new roles
Brown wasn’t trying to make up for Tatum’s scoring by himself. The first change we saw from Brown was on defense, where he (instead of Holiday or White) was guarding Brunson from the opening tip.
The Celtics’ defense against the Knicks’ star is about more than just the man guarding him to start possessions, but Brown and his additional length clearly made an impact, with Brunson scoring just 22 points (7-17 FGs) after torching the Celtics for 39 in Game 4.
The Knicks set 41 ball screens for Brunson, but Brown wasn’t giving up the switch easily. On that same third-quarter possession where Kornet blocked Towns (illustrated above), Brown navigated Hart’s ball screen well enough to prevent Brunson from stepping into a pull-up jumper.
“My goal was just to stay between him and the basket,” Brown said. “I feel like I can guard with the best of them.”
On offense, Brown had almost as many assists (12) as he had through the first four games (13). He didn’t force any tough shots and, instead, made the right reads when he gained advantages.
And the defensive assignment yielded some of those advantages on offense. Because Brown was guarding Brunson, the Knicks guard sometimes got caught guarding Brown in transition.
That was the case midway through the first quarter, when Brown took Brunson into the post. He spun into the paint, drew two more defenders and made a terrific wraparound pass to Kornet for a layup …
When asked what his job is with Tatum out, Brown responded, “Get it done in multiple ways … Whatever is needed, I’m excited to facilitate in whatever role.”
4. Celtics dominate from deep
The Orlando Magic were the worst 3-point shooting team in the league this season, and the Celtics outscored them by 54 points from beyond the arc over their five-game, first-round series.
Through five games in this series, the Celtics have outscored the Knicks by 90 points from 3-point range. The Knicks made one more 3-pointer than Boston over the first two games, but the Celtics have made 31 more over the last three.
The Celtics, of course, set an NBA record this season by taking 53.6% of their shots from beyond the arc. Orlando was able to limit their 3-point attempts in the first round, but they’ve been launching early and often in this series. Games 1, 4 and 5 account for three of the four times in these playoffs that a team has taken at least 58% of its shots from 3-point range.
Bad shots will arise when you take that many 3-pointers, and there were certainly some bad ones as the Celtics blew 20-point leads in Games 1 and 2.
But almost all of their 49 attempts on Wednesday were good looks generated by pace and ball movement, and the math has worked out over the past three games. It’s been one of the Celtics’ best three-game stretches of offense (129.6 points scored per 100 possessions) this season.
5. One down, two to go?
With the Minnesota Timberwolves closing out the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, teams that have trailed 3-1 in a best-of-seven have rallied to win the series just 13 times (4.4%) in 295 opportunities. That means the odds are still certainly against the Celtics.
But the champs have shown that, even without their best player, they’re capable of beating the Knicks on any given night.
“We just have to win one game,” Mazzulla said, “and take it from there.”
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John Schuhmann is a senior stats analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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