BOSTON — Tom Thibodeau is fast to rattle off a complete crew’s roster forward of tipoff. For the reigning champion Celtics, the roster begins with franchise cornerstone Jayson Tatum. And with Tatum out for the foreseeable future after rupturing his Achilles tendon at Madison Sq. Backyard within the fourth quarter of Sport 4, Jaylen Brown is subsequent up because the Celtics’ 1A. Then comes Kristaps Porzingis, the previous Knicks first-round choose turned-stretch 5 who the Celtics began in Sport 5 alongside Al Horford.
However the Celtics are extra than simply their All-Star names. They’re defending champions as a result of they’ve one of many NBA’s most well-rounded rosters, a roster that’s gone 15-3 over the previous two seasons in video games Tatum has missed, together with an 8-2 file in his 10 absences this season. Thibodeau is aware of this very properly. It’s why he at all times says you’ll be able to’t neglect in regards to the function gamers.
On Wednesday, the Knicks forgot about Derrick White. Derrick White didn’t neglect the right way to shoot.
White capitalized on an inattentive Knick protection and lit it up at TD Backyard for 34 factors to keep away from elimination with a 127-102 victory on Wednesday. The Celtics, with out their All-Star scorer, with out the engine that fuels a championship machine, reside to see one other day. There will probably be a Sport 6.
Closing out the defending champions was by no means going to be a simple process. Little did the Knicks know it will price a pound of flesh. The Knicks paid that worth on Wednesday — however didn’t go away the opposite Backyard with a victory within the bag.
“[Tatum’s injury] doesn’t impact how we prepare. We have to have the same mentality, same focus,” crew captain Jalen 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.”
As an alternative, they left with Josh Hart’s eye stitched after he took a shot to the face from Luke Kornet, the Celtics’ backup huge man who transforms into equal elements Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo each time he will get prolonged run towards the Knicks. Hart’s eye bled down his face onto his jersey, a scene certain to turned iPhone wallpaper materials for a lot of Knicks followers throughout the town. Coincidentally, he made 4 of his first 5 makes an attempt from deep on the evening.
However little else went in accordance with plan for the Knicks, who couldn’t get to the rim towards Kornet. The backup huge man starred in his function and swatted seven pictures in Sport 5.
The whole lot else occurred in-between the traces.
The Celtics didn’t play like a crew that had misplaced its high scorer. They performed with desperation — a crew getting ready to a far earlier-than-expected playoff elimination. They mucked the sport up from begin to end: exhausting screens, bodily protection, unrelenting pursuit of 50-50 balls. And so they focused Hart, who was whistled as a part of a double technical foul after a shoving match with Jaylen Brown. With out Tatum, Brown erupted for his best-scoring sport of the collection: 26 factors on 9-of-17 taking pictures from the sector and 3-of-5 taking pictures from downtown.
And on today, there can be no comeback. That spell might have run its course within the second spherical.
There are solely however so many instances you’ll be able to tempt the destiny of the basketball gods, and after getting back from down 20 in Video games 1 and a couple of, then overcoming a 14-point deficit to win Sport 4, the Knicks discovered themselves down near 30 within the fourth quarter.
You possibly can’t win like that. Technically, you’ll be able to — the Knicks have — however it’s dangerous and taking part in with hearth. On Wednesday, the Knicks obtained burned.
Hart led the Knicks with 24 factors and Jalen Brunson added 22 factors however fouled out within the fourth quarter after selecting up 5 fouls within the third quarter alone. Karl-Anthony Cities added 19 factors, however the Knicks obtained simply six factors on 1-of-12 taking pictures from OG Anunoby and 9 factors on 4-of-14 taking pictures from Mikal Bridges.
Mitchell Robinson completed with eight factors and 13 rebounds and made 4 consecutive free throws however didn’t play the ultimate 7:36 of the fourth quarter.
The Knicks now should lick their wounds, recuperate and regroup for Sport 6 at MSG on Friday. They’ll have to deal with that as a Sport 7, as a result of in the event that they fork up one other sport at dwelling, there’s no telling what can occur at 100 Legends Manner.
Initially Revealed: Might 14, 2025 at 9:56 PM EDT
