Knicks will look to close out series against Celtics at home after Game 5 loss in Boston
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The New York Knicks will try to put away the Boston Celtics when they return home Friday night after a 127-102 loss in Boston on Wednesday.
The Celtics connected on 22 3-pointers to post their first home victory of the series and first without Jayson Tatum following his season-ending Achilles tendon injury.
Derrick White had 34 points, including seven 3-pointers, Jaylen Brown added 26 points and 12 assists, and Luke Kornet finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks.
The Celtics are looking to become just the 14th team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit in 294 attempts.
Josh Hart led the Knicks with 24 points despite briefly leaving the game late in the first quarter to close a bloody gash on his face after he took an inadvertent elbow.
Jalen Brunson added 22 points before fouling out with 7:19 to play in the game.
Boston trailed by nine points in the first half but closed the third quarter on a 23-9 run and took a 91-76 lead to the fourth. Brunson spent the final 2:45 of the third on the bench after picking up his fifth foul.
The Celtics kept it going in the final period, pushing their lead as high as 28 points.
The game was highly physical throughout and included a brief face-to-face skirmish between Hart and Brown.
That energy carried over offensively. The Celtics came out hot, getting five 3s from White and 12 total in the opening 24 minutes.
But the Knicks held as much as a nine-point lead, connecting on eight 3s of their own and getting 10 second-chance points. Mitchell Robinson also converted on all four of his free throw attempts in the first half, nullifying the series-long intentional foul strategy Boston employed on him.
When the half ended, the score was knotted 59-59.
Knicks playoff run has fans excited
While Wednesday night's results were not what Knicks fans had hoped for, prior to the game, excitement had been building with the team on the brink of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.
All it takes is one more win against the Celtics, and fans are already prepared to celebrate.
Marva Dodson ducked out of the rain and cruised through the Knicks merchandise store for a little swag.
The 70-year-old made it clear that she did not just jump on the Knicks bandwagon.
"I have been a Knicks fan since Frazier's era," she said. "Dave DeBusshere, Bradley. Baby, you better know it."
The Knicks postseason run has dedicated, and long-suffering fans in a frenzy.
Some of those fans called ESPN radio host Don La Greca. Fans like "Purple Belt Mike."
"I feel it. I feel it in my bones. This team can win a championship baby," Purple Belt Mike said on the radio. "We can get there. This team can do it. This team can unite the city. I love this team. This team is awesome. Let's go Knicks baby."
"It's the same callers. It's the same people we have known for years that have had nothing but disappointment," La Greca said. "Now they are allowed to feel really good about there being a path to something that they have never seen before."
Jordan Rouse also paid a visit to the Knicks store.
He is from Toms River, New Jersey, but his dad is from the Bronx, and pops made one thing certain to his impressionable young son... "you will be a Knicks fan."
"This is the best feeling in the world," Rouse said. "My soul is happy."
Rouse, who was born in 1997, says this "feeling" is a first in his lifetime. He was just 2 years old the last time the Knicks made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2000, against the Indiana Pacers. Ironically enough, that would be same team the Knicks would face if they manage to win one more game against the Celtics.
As for the hot sellers in the Knicks store, a group of young fans left no doubt about who their favorite player is... OG Anunoby.
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