The NBA Eastern Conference semi-final Playoff series between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics heads back to Madison Square Garden for Game 6 on Saturday.
The Celtics kept their title defence hopes alive with a 127-102 victory on Thursday, and they will now be hoping to level the series to force a deciding Game 7, where they will have home advantage.
Match preview
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The Boston Celtics are facing elimination for the first time in two years, but they are still alive after a sensational second-half performance at TD Garden on Thursday, when they outscored the Knicks 68-43 to take the series to 3-2.
Completing the comeback is certainly not going to the straightforward for the defending champions, though, as they are set to be without Jayson Tatum for the remainder of the postseason due to a torn Achilles sustained in Game 4.
Additionally, Kristaps Porzingis is suffering the effects of an illness, which saw him unable to continue from the start of the third quarter in the last match due to breathing problems, which Joe Mazzulla confirmed after their win.
Despite those setbacks, Derrick White stepped up in a big way, finishing as the team's top scorer with 34 points, while Jaylen Brown had one of his best games of the postseason with 26 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds.
However, the most impressive part about the C's performance in the last match was their strength in depth, with Payton Pritchard coming off the bench to drain 17 points, while Luke Kornet was a colossus on defence, racking up seven blocks and 10 points on five of five shooting.
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Meanwhile, the New York Knicks were right in the contest at the half time interval with the scores level, but they were simply unable to contain Brown and White in the second half.
This was especially evident when looking at OG Anunoby, who barely laid a finger on Brown throughout the second period and finished with only six points on a dismal one of six shooting from the field.
Josh Hart had a solid game with 24 points and seven rebounds, and Karl-Anthony Towns added 19 points and eight rebounds, but the team never looked likely to close the deficit in the fourth quarter after Jalen Brunson fouled out with 22 points in 33 minutes.
Brunson has been the backbone of this team in the Playoffs, currently the highest-scoring player in the postseason, and the Celtics did well to get him in foul trouble on defence in the last match, but it will be interesting to see how they deal with his threat here in New York.
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Team News
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There were a few concerns for Knicks' fans after Brunson took a hard elbow to the jaw from Brown in the last game, but no blood was drawn, and he should be good to go for this crucial match.
New York have a full roster at their disposal for this one, but they may consider bringing Mitchell Robinson into the starting five to attempt a double big-man strategy after Anunoby and Mikal Bridges' poor performances in the last game.
For Boston, they will have to make do without their leader Jayson Tatum for the rest of the postseason, while Sam Hauser remains a doubt with an ankle issue despite getting 15 minutes off the bench in Game 5.
Porzingis's availability is also questionable after he was unable to feature in the second half of the last match, but if Kornet can continue to perform as he did in Thursday's win, the C's will feel they have a good chance of forcing the decider.
New York Knicks possible starting five:
Anunoby, Robinson, Hart, Towns, Brunson
Boston Celtics possible starting five:
Brown, Horford, Kornet, White, Holiday
We say: New York Knicks to win by 2+ points
While the Celtics managed to keep the series alive at home on Thursday, it will be a much tougher task to do likewise in New York, where MSG will be a cauldron of noise come Saturday.
Tatum's absence and Porzingis's ongoing illness are also major concerns for the defending champions, and we feel that Jalen Brunson will be determined to make a statement after fouling out in the last match. We are going with the Knicks to close out the series in this one.
Devesh Jaganath
