Will Jaylen Brown, Celtics force a Game 7 against Knicks?
The Boston Celtics will look to keep their season alive again Friday night, when they visit the New York Knicks for Game 6 of their second-round NBA playoff series at Madison Square Garden. Given how unpredictable and mystifying the series has been thus far, a Game 7 back in Boston on Monday night feels like the only fitting end to the set.
But it will be up to Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and the rest of Boston's squad to get the Jayson Tatum-less Celtics to a winner-takes-all tilt at TD Garden next week. The Celtics are back in the Big Apple because of an all-around team effort on Wednesday night, resulting in a 25-point win for Boston. Another such performance should give the Celtics their second win in New York this series.
For the most part, the Celtics have been the superior team this series, leading each contest by at least 14 points. But the Knicks have been the better team in crunch time, winning the fourth quarter in each of the first four games of the series. The Celtics gave away the first two games at TD Garden by collapsing in the fourth, leading to their current 3-2 series predicament.
Here's how the Celtics can even things up and force a Game 7 on Friday night.
Another Jaylen Brown takeover
Brown has played in 134 playoff games in his career, and Wednesday night was one of his best performances in those contests. He resisted the urge to put to the team squarely on his shoulders and shared the ball in his near-perfect game, resulting in a postseason career-high 12 assists from Brown.
Brown's own offense was stellar too, as he finished with 26 points off 9-of-17 shooting overall, including 3-of-5 from downtown. But his game was much, much more than just putting the ball in the basket and finding open teammates.
Brown brought the energy and hustle on the defensive end, and one particular play early in the third quarter keyed the Celtics' second-half takeover. Brown tipped the ball away from Jalen Brunson and went all-out for the loose ball, diving out-of-bounds to tip it to Luke Kornet to start a Boston break. The Celtics led 65-63 at the time, and went on to outscore the Knicks 26-13 the rest of the quarter to take over the game.
If the Celtics miraculously come back this series, Brown's diving save could become the defining play of the postseason. As the kids say these days: "Hang it in the Louvre."
Brown was an absolute menace on defense, tallying six of Boston's 12 deflections on the night. He dogged Brunson throughout the game, similar to when he locked up Luka Doncic in the NBA Finals last season. Brunson had 22 points for the Knicks, but fouled out with over seven minutes left in the game.
The Celtics need Brown to continue to be a hero without playing hero ball. No one should be playing hero ball on Friday, unless they want to be golfing on Monday instead of preparing for a Game 7.
Brown's Wednesday night performance is the perfect blueprint everyone in Green.
It starts on defense
Boston has not had the most efficient series on offense, but the Celtics can help their cause by getting things started on the defensive end. Outside of Game 4, when the Knicks dropped 121 points on 94 possessions, the Boston defense has held New York to just 104 points per 100 possessions.
Strong defense from the Celtics has led to some transition offense, which has made a huge difference in the last three games. Boston scored 80 points off transition on 52 possessions from Games 3-5. The C's had just 30 transition points in the first two games of the set.
Transition offense lets the Celtics attack the Knicks defense before it gets set, and led to open looks for Derrick White from downtown (he scored a game-high 34 points on Wednesday) or open looks for Boston's bigs down low.
But it has to start with lockdown, frustrating defense on the other end. The Celtics have done a great job on Brunson one-on-one, and have kept the likes of Karl Anthony-Towns and Mikal Bridges from hurting them from downtown, with the duo connecting on just 8 of their 37 three-point attempts.
Keep up the pressure and intensity on deffense, and it should lead to some easy buckets for the Celtics in Game 6.
Boston bigs playing big
The Celtics haven't gotten anything from Kristaps Porzingis as he continues to struggle due to an illness, which has really thrown off the effectiveness of the team's double-big lineup. The Celtics have been much better with just one giant fella on the floor, which forces Towns to guard smaller, quicker players. The Celtics have been able to hurt New York with their smaller lineups.
But the C's are going to need a lot from their bigs in Game 6. Al Horford has to continue to fill his Glue Guy role, where he keeps the ball moving on offense and mucks things up on defense. He's got to hit his open shots too, with Horford scoring in double digits in both of Boston's wins on a combined 11-of-16 shooting. Horford shot just 5-of-19 in Boston's three losses to New York.
And then there is Luke Kornet, who had a game for the ages Wednesday night with 10 points (off a perfect 5-of-5 shooting), nine rebounds, and seven blocks. It's a one-of-a-kind stat line in the NBA playoffs, with five of those seven blocks coming in Boston's game-changing third quarter.
We're not expecting another historical performance from Boston's reserve big, but the Celtics need Kornet to keep playing his role on defense and take advantage of his opportunities on offense, especially if Porzingis' struggles continue. Expect Joe Mazzulla to have Porzingis on a short leash again Friday night -- and for Kornet to be ready to step up.
You can even throw Jrue Holiday in as a honorary Celtics big this series. The point guard has been D-ing up on Towns and making life tough on the Knicks big man, and pulled down a career-best seven rebounds in Game 5.
