Celtics Preview Life Without Jayson Tatum in Game 5 Win and Stay Alive

BOSTON — Celtics fans filing into TD Garden did so with some pep in their step. Roughly 20 minutes before tip-off, they cheered while entering the building to distract themselves from the reality printed on shirts and signs. If this was it for 2024-25, they wanted to go out with one more fervent showing. Knicks fans joined them, emboldened and predicting a five game series victory.

“The one thing I don’t like right now is that the whole city of Boston is very down,” Noah, a Celtics fan, said. “Which I understand because of Tatum, but the series is not over. If we win tonight, we’re back in the series.”

If Wednesday becomes that Garden finale, it’ll serve as some solace for a lost opportunity to win a championship this season. What could’ve become a night of frustration and boos over how this series got away from the Celtics became the best crowd showing of the year. They chanted Luuuuuuuke through an unforgettable Luke Kornet third quarter, popped at each of Payton Pritchard’s threes and returned the carefree energy evident through years where Boston didn’t have expectations higher than the ceiling. The Celtics rolled, 127-102, by tapping into the bench for unsung showings that at least provided some hope for a series turnaround.

The reasons for concern still stood in front of everyone. Jayson Tatum’s father told ESPN on Wednesday that Tatum will likely miss 8-9 months following surgery. Kristaps Porziņģis illness prognosis worsened to the point where he couldn’t breath and sat the second half, according to Joe Mazzulla. Sam Hauser showed well one week removed from a nasty-looking ankle injury, while the every-other-day nature of the series required scaling back Al Horford’s minutes to 24. But fresh bodies stood up, Kornet’s 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks marking by far the best game of his career. Pritchard showed again that he should be playing more often. Jaylen Brown reminded the promise he holds in taking on a No. 1 role in the offense with 26 points and 12 assists.

“I appreciate the fans that showed up tonight,” Brown said. “It was a great atmosphere, it was loud. I know it’s easy to write things off. Obviously, unfortunate what happened to J.T., but we still got basketball to be played. I believe in this group, so don’t count us out just yet.”

The free-flowing nature of Wednesday’s Celtics win showed how they could potentially win the series. It more likely showcased what’s possible next season — competitive showings, growth from bench players in larger roles and Brown emerging as the face of the franchise in Tatum’s absence.

Brown and Horford led a team meeting before the game where they stressed taking each game at a time, acknowledging the situation they and Tatum landed in on Monday before figuring out what it takes to win without him. Tatum shared a message with the team too — that he’s on his way to recovery and that the team has to keep trying to accomplish its goal without him. One of the louder moments of the night came when a fan waved a Tatum Team USA jersey on the jumbotron. A subtle Jay-son Ta-tum chant broke out in the fourth quarter.

“We haven’t seen him, he’s been in New York, but he sent us a nice message talking about the game and stuff,” Pritchard told CLNS pregame. “We gotta come out, compete and win the game for him. All we’re worried about is winning Game 5 now.”

Figuring out how to took time. Porziņģis started for Tatum and showed he had little available, missing a three, layup, turning the ball over while posting up and committing an offensive foul over five minutes before Kornet entered. Pritchard checked in due to Jrue Holiday foul trouble. The Celtics trailed 32-30 after the first.

The substitutions that followed showed the urgency required while facing elimination. Mazzulla emphasized before the game that while losing Tatum will change things for Boston, it would also force the Knicks to adjust. He awaited changes in their rotation and defensive approach. Two major developments led the Celtics to further overhaul their lineup.

“Jrue had two fouls so we went with Payton. You have to adjust in that situation,” Mazzulla said. “But that’s something we’ve always done, play different lineups, do what makes sense, try to win the matchup on both ends of the floor. Obviously foul trouble played in some of the substitutions that we made in both halves.”

“Porziņģis couldn’t breath, so he was available if absolutely necessary. That was a decision between me and him.”

If Wednesday’s effort still leads to elimination in this round, there’ll be frustration. The Celtics built their fifth straight double-digit lead in the win and trail 3-2, improbable after they led for most of three straight quarters in Games 1, 2 and 4, which all flipped into losses late. Boston mostly dominated Games 3 and 5, and would become one of the teams with the highest share of minutes led in a NBA Playoff series to ever lose one. The Knicks would became the first team in the past 20 years to win a series while leading in less than 25% of its possessions.

After Game 5, Pritchard (+36) and Kornet (+28) rank third and fourth on the team in +/- during this series despite Pritchard finishing sixth in minutes with Kornet behind Porziņģis in eighth. Mazzulla also tapped into a three-guard lineup that hadn’t been seen in this series previously and posted a 150.0 offensive rating (+41.1) in 24 minutes. That they’re only reaching their solutions to problems like playing with pace while ahead, rebounding and courting shooting alongside offensive flexibility would warrant some scrutiny toward Mazzulla if the Celtics can’t complete the comeback. Especially after Mazzulla touted the team’s depth, flexibility and options all season. But Boston hasn’t lost yet.

“It’s a situation none of us hoped to be in, but I think Joe throughout the year has been stressing the message that you have to love the situation you’re in and you can’t really control that. You can just control how you respond to it,” Kornet said.

For Brown, the win became his first statement leading the team through the calendar year where they’ll await Tatum’s return. Both his leadership efforts preparing the team to play after the turmoil from two nights earlier and his patient passing effort combined with transition urgency against an aggressive Knicks defense allowed for the Celtics’ best offensive showing in the series.

The must-win nature of the night also showed in Brown’s full spread dive into the Celtics bench to retain a loose ball he just poked from Jalen Brunson. Holiday, Brown and Derrick White hit Brunson with five fouls in the third quarter alone, forcing him out of the game and helping themselves close the free throw shooting gap. Kornet also rushed into the stands to save a loose ball after stuffing OG Anunoby in that quarter, where he rejected five shots. Kornet has a chance to emerge as a significant contributor next year. Pritchard looks ready start if the roster changes in the back court.

But all that awaits. They’re setting the stage for what could become a pleasantly surprising season next year by extending this one. Mazzulla stressed again — four hours ago we had to win one game. Now, we have to win one game.

“The air left the room after hearing the news with JT, so we didn’t want to go out like that,” Brown said. “We didn’t want to make no excuses. We didn’t wanna come out and give up, or just turn the season in like everybody else  would probably expect. So we just said to the guys, said to each other, let’s come out, keep an open mind, come out, play basketball and be ready to go. And guard your ass off and take it from there. We were able to find a way to win tonight.”