On May 15, Beijing time, a hot battle in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA playoffs was staged passionately. The Boston Celtics played at home and ushered in the fifth game of the series with the New York Knicks. Celtics core Jayson Tatum was forced to miss the game due to a torn Achilles tendon. However, the Celtics were not discouraged. With the cheers of the home fans, they united as one and defeated the Knicks with a huge score of 127-102, rewriting the series score to 2-3, successfully saving a match point, and reborn the suspense of the entire series. ​
White: The "savior" of the team​
In this game, Derrick White of the Celtics can be called the "savior" of the team. From the beginning of the game, White showed an excellent touch. He was in full swing in the first quarter, making 4 of 4 three-pointers and scoring 14 points in a single quarter, helping the team to keep the score close. Entering the second half, White's offensive state is still hot, especially in the third quarter, when the Knicks tried to set off a counterattack, White hit a series of difficult three-pointers, and extinguished the opponent's counterattack momentum again and again. In the whole game, White made 7 of 13 shots from beyond the three-point line, efficiently scored a game-high 34 points, plus 3 rebounds and 3 blocks. He had extremely eye-catching performances on both offense and defense. His outstanding performance became the biggest contributor to the Celtics' victory in this game. In addition to White, Jaylen Brown also showed his core responsibility in this game. Brown contributed 26 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists in the whole game, which was a quasi-triple-double. On the offensive end, he relied on his strong body and excellent skills to break through the Knicks' defense again and again, and scored steadily for the team; in terms of organization, Brown fully mobilized the enthusiasm of his teammates, sent 12 assists in the whole game, revitalized the team's offensive system, and made the Celtics' offense smooth. In the absence of Tatum, Brown carried the team forward with his comprehensive performance. On the other hand, although the Knicks had good performances, Jaylen Brunson and Josh Hart contributed 22 points and 6 assists and 24 points and 7 rebounds respectively, the overall performance of the team was not satisfactory. Brunson encountered the Celtics' key defense in the game, and his offensive efficiency declined. He only shot 1 of 4 from beyond the three-point line. In addition, the team's inside advantage was not fully utilized. Although Karl-Anthony Towns scored 19 points and 8 rebounds, he failed to effectively limit the Celtics' inside impact on the defensive end. What's worse, the team fell into a scoring drought in the third quarter, scoring only 17 points in a single quarter, and was beaten by the Celtics 32-17, which completely widened the score gap and made the game lose suspense.​
The 6th game between the two sides will be held on May 17 at Madison Square Garden, the home of the New York Knicks. By then, can the Celtics continue their hot form in this game and complete a stunning reversal? Can the Knicks defend the match point at home and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals? Let us wait and see, and witness the subsequent development of this exciting series together. ​