BOSTON — Jayson Tatum being sidelined with a ruptured Achilles could make the Celtics a better opponent in principle, however the Knicks aren’t approaching a closeout Sport 5 with that mindset. They’re nonetheless treating the defending champions as if they’re full energy, as a result of just like the Knicks needed to study to thrive with Jalen Brunson out for a month throughout the common season, the Celtics, too, have expertise competing at a excessive degree with Tatum off the ground.
“[His injury] doesn’t impact how we prepare. We have to have the same mentality, same focus,” Brunson mentioned after morning shootaround on Wednesday. “They’re still the defending champions. They still have championship pedigree. They still have a lot of weapons that are dangerous, so there can’t be a difference of how we approach it.”
Tatum has missed a complete of 18 video games over his final two seasons. The Celtics are 15-3 in these video games and boasted an 8-2 report with out their All-Star starter and franchise centerpiece main into the 2025 NBA playoffs.
So what can we anticipate the Celtics to do within the absence of their star ahead? For starters, latest historical past suggests Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla will begin Kristaps Porzingis as a substitute of sixth man Payton Pritchard to compensate for the scale Boston loses with Tatum (11.8 rebounds per sport in Spherical 2 vs. Knicks) on the sidelines.
When the Celtics have had their full complement of gamers and Tatum is unavailable, Mazzulla has gone to the mixture of Porzingis and Al Horford to maintain the crew’s positional measurement robust within the entrance courtroom. Porzingis has been coming off the bench since he left Sport 1 whereas coping with a viral sickness, however with out Tatum, the Celtics will want each of their greatest bigs on the ground. They might additionally flip to Luke Kornet in the event that they wish to proceed bringing Porzingis off the bench — however with the season on the road, Boston has little left to lose and can doubtless put its greatest accessible 5 gamers on the ground.
With out Tatum, Knicks defensive assignments can even have to alter. OG Anunoby, for instance, might shift to guarding Jaylen Brown, who will now be Boston’s prime offensive weapon and has drawn the Mikal Bridges matchup for many of the sequence. Brown is averaging 20.5 factors per sport within the second spherical in opposition to the Knicks however has struggled to search out any rhythm. He shot lower than 38% from the sphere and 23% from three-point vary by means of the primary 4 video games of the sequence.
However Anunoby, relying on who Boston inserts into the beginning lineup, might additionally draw the Porzingis matchup, and the dual-big lineup for the Celtics will probably be formidable: 5 three-point shooters on the ground, together with two who play most of their minutes on the heart spot.
In video games Tatum has missed as a result of damage this season, Pritchard averaged 19 factors on 10 three-point makes an attempt per sport. He scored 43 in opposition to the Portland Path Blazers, 34 within the season finale in opposition to the Charlotte Hornets, and posted 27 factors and 10 assists in a victory over the Detroit Pistons. Porzingis solely performed in 5 of the ten video games Tatum missed this season however averaged 23.4 factors, 8.4 rebounds and a pair of.2 blocks per sport on higher than 50% taking pictures from the sphere in these outings.
The Knicks can even have to do a greater job of containing Derrick White, who hit six 3s and erupted for 23 in Sport 5. White — who averaged 16.4 factors throughout the common season — appeared in eight of the ten video games Tatum missed this season. He upped his scoring to twenty.8 factors per sport with the All-Star ahead out of the rotation, averaging 11 three-point makes an attempt with a shiny inexperienced mild with out the All-Star ahead.
PRAYERS OUT FOR TATUM
Brunson mentioned the NBA received’t be the identical with Tatum out for what will probably be an in depth rehab interval.
“I feel for him. It’s an unfortunate situation for a player like him. The NBA needs Jayson Tatum,” he mentioned Wednesday morning. “What he’s been able to do in his career has been remarkable, and he still has a long, long way to go in his — I mean, he still has a lot to do in his career. Meaning he has a lot of time left to make an impact for his legacy and what he’s done is special, so when you see a player like that go down, it’s just not good for the game.”
Mitchell Robinson, who returned to the Knicks rotation in late February after a 10-month damage layoff of his personal, empathized with Tatum’s place,
“First off, I want to [send] prayers out to JT for that injury. I’ve been through a lot myself. I know how that feels,” he mentioned. “It’s not a great feeling to be in. I mean, just to got to keep going.”
Tatum might miss all the 2025-26 season recovering from the damage, as Kevin Durant suffered the identical ruptured Achilles within the 2019 NBA Finals and missed all the 2019-20 season with the Brooklyn Nets.
SPRING FILLED WITH UPSETS
The fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers upset the East’s No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers finishing a second-round gentleman’s sweep on Tuesday. The No. 3 Knicks walked onto the TD Backyard flooring with a 3-1 sequence lead over the defending champs on Wednesday. Out West, the No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves pulled the upset on the No. 3 Los Angeles Lakers.
“Every playoff series is a battle no matter what,” mentioned Brunson. “So that’s why you can’t — in your head — think about what’s going on with other series or anything like that. Yes, you’re aware of it, but you’ve gotta be focused on what you have to do because anything can happen.”
TUCKER’S INFLUENCE
Josh Hart shouted-out veteran ahead P.J. Tucker for his affect on crew tradition since his late-season arrival. A reporter requested Brunson what Tucker has delivered to the locker room throughout the playoff run.
“He’s brought a lot of shoes. He’s brought a lot of shoes,” he mentioned of, Tucker, a well-documented sneaker head. “In all seriousness he’s been great. The way he talks, the way he leads. Obviously, he’s been around the league a long time and he has a lot of experience and so when he talks we listen, so having a guy like that on our team has been remarkable for us. He’s been fantastic since he’s been there.”
