Interesting Preview I read to ponder over, so pick your own poison, I’ve made up my mind.
It appears it wasn't mentioned to the Boston Celtics that they were supposed to go away quietly in the wake of Jayson Tatum's devastating Achilles injury.
The Celtics were loud and boisterous while facing elimination and won in dominant fashion Wednesday. Now, they have the opportunity to even the Eastern Conference semifinals at three games apiece when they visit the Knicks on Friday night in New York.
Tatum's serious injury in Game 4 inspired Boston, which delivered a 127-102 home-court rout in Game 5.
The Celtics are 10-2 without Tatum this season, including 2-0 in the playoffs.
"It's easy to kind of write things off," Boston co-star Jaylen Brown said. "Obviously, unfortunate what happened to J.T., but we've still got basketball to be played. I believe in this group. Don't count us out just yet."
The lopsided Game 5 victory transfers the pressure to the Knicks, who need to wrap up the series Friday to avoid a Game 7 in Boston on Monday.
New York star Jalen Brunson could feel the urgency after his club was outscored by 25 points in the second half.
He also made it clear the Knicks didn't relax due to Tatum's misfortune.
"No, not at all. Yes, they are missing a big piece, but they are a well-oiled machine that has been in situations where they've played without him, and they've played well," Brunson said. "We need to understand that and trust the game plan and play to win. It's as simple as that."
Brunson scored 22 points in Game 5 before fouling out with 7:19 left to play. Josh Hart led the team with 24 points and made five of nine 3-point attempts.
But the Knicks shot just 35.8 percent from the field with OG Anunoby (1-for-12, six points) and Mikal Bridges (4-for-14, 9 points) both having poor shooting outings.
"We've got to play desperate," Bridges said. "I don't think we did that,"