Derrick White scored a game-high 34 points and the Boston Celtics extended their season by beating the visiting New York Knicks 127-102 on Wednesday in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Knicks lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading into Friday’s Game 6 in New York.
White shot 7-for-13 from 3-point territory and made 9 of his 11 free-throw attempts. Boston sank 22 of its 49 shots from behind the 3-point arc (44.9 percent) and outscored New York 68-43 in the second half.
The Celtics received 26 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists from Jaylen Brown. Luke Kornet added 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots and Payton Pritchard came off the bench to make five 3-pointers and score 17 points.
“We made winning plays on both ends of the floor,” said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. “They made enough plays to win. Gave us another chance to play.”
It was Boston’s second playoff game without Jayson Tatum, who had surgery Tuesday to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon. Tatum also missed Game 2 of Boston’s first-round series against Orlando, which the Celtics won 109-100.
Josh Hart scored a team-high 24 points for New York, which shot 29-of-81 from the field (35.8 percent). Jalen Brunson collected 22 points and six assists, but he fouled out with 7:19 to play. Brunson was called for his fifth foul with 2:45 remaining in the third quarter.
“That we didn’t play for 48 minutes,” said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau when asked what stood out Wednesday. “We didn’t play tough with the lead. Can’t afford to do that.”
The Knicks received 19 points and eight rebounds from Karl-Anthony Towns.
Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis was limited to one point in 12 minutes and didn’t play in the second half.
“He couldn’t breathe,” Mazzulla said. “If we absolutely needed him, we would have been able to go to him and rely on him.”
New York led 32-30 after one quarter and the game was tied 59-59 at halftime. An 11-0 run capped by a Pritchard 3-pointer put the Celtics up 81-68 with 7:10 left in the third and Boston held a 91-76 advantage entering the fourth.
The Celtics led by as many as 28 in the final 12 minutes.
It was Boston’s first victory at home in the series.
–Field Level Media
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