The Celtics show their championship pride without Tatum and survive against the Knicks.

127

102

When everything was against them, the NBA champions gritted their teeth, showed their pride, and survived the first of three games to determine their survival. The Boston Celtics defeated the New York Knicks at home on Wednesday (127-102) despite the absence of their star player, Jayson Tatum, who tore his Achilles tendon on Monday. Derrick White, on the scoring front, and Luke Hornet, on defense, stepped up to keep the series alive. Despite this, the Celtics still need to win two more games to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

The Celtics have a complete, balanced, and well-rounded roster. While Tatum is the team's leading scorer and his absence will be noticeable, they have talent among the rest of the starters and the best bench in the league. In the absence of Tatum , Jaylen Brown is the team's key player. The home team's No. 7, who was the best player in last year's Finals, had 26 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds. However, the one who stood out above the rest on offense on Wednesday was Derrick White. The 30-year-old guard scored 34 points, thanks primarily to a series of seven three-pointers in 13 attempts. He also drew fouls and added nine points from the free throw line.

The other big surprise of the game for Boston was the performance of Luke Kornet. The 7-foot-10 center, theoretically ranked third in the hierarchy at the position behind Latvian Kristaps Porziņģis and Dominican Al Horford, became a defensive wall with his seven blocks and his intimidating effect on the opposing offense. He added 10 points and nine rebounds. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla decided to keep him on the court for most of the game to the detriment of Porziņģis, who has been far below his game throughout the postseason.

Kornet was the key man in a much more intense defense than in previous games against the Celtics. Except for the first quarter, which ended with the visitors leading, the Celtics managed to stop Jalen Brunson, the key to the Knicks' game. Brunson finished with 22 points and watched the final seven minutes of the game from the bench, disqualified for his personal fouls and, in the process, reserving himself for Friday's game, this time at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Payton Pritchard also stood out in Boston's offense with 17 points, thanks to five three-pointers. Jrue Holiday added 14 and Al Horford 12. The Celtics ended up playing their best game of the Eastern Conference semifinals without Tatum .

After a very even first quarter, the Knicks took a nine-point lead early in the second. The home team rallied, and the game went into halftime tied at 59. It wasn't until the restart that Boston pulled away, thanks largely to their aggressive defense. The Knicks scored just 17 points in the third quarter, allowing the Celtics to take a 15-point lead. By the start of the fourth quarter, the lead had already surpassed 20 points, to the delight of the packed TD Garden crowd, the same arena where the Celtics were crowned champions a year ago and where they made it clear on Wednesday that they aren't going to give up easily. Even if they're missing Tatum.