Celtics remain as admirable as ever in Jayson Tatum’s absence

Celtics

Beyond that, who really knows? It’s been a bizarre series, and the bizarre has favored the Knicks.

By Chad Finn

May 16, 2025 | 8:05 AM

4 minutes to read

Maybe it all ends Friday night. Or maybe the Celtics have another win in them. Maybe another two, and maybe, if they can somehow cook up a little nobody-believed-in-us magic, even more beyond.

No matter how the postseason’s remaining scenes play out for the Celtics as they play on without superstar Jayson Tatum, I’m grateful — yes, that is the right word, grateful — that they kept their season alive Wednesday night with a stellar and resilient performance in Game 5 of their second-round series with the Knicks.

The Celtics’ realistic quest to repeat as NBA champions was altered with staggering, stunning abruptness with 2:58 remaining in Game 4, when Tatum … well, no frame-by-frame rehash is really necessary here, is it?

We replayed Tatum’s injury — a ruptured right Achilles’ tendon, just as it appeared to be in the sickening moment — in our minds time and again that restless night, then woke up the morning after with an “aw, dammit” reminder that it really did happen. It felt, in that way that numbs your face like your blood has abandoned the premises, just like Tom Brady’s knee injury 17 years ago.

In the aftermath of Game 4, it was human nature to think of this season — and this phase of Celtics glory — as already being in the past tense. I suspect the Celtics players and personnel allowed similar thoughts to creep in, if only briefly. Al Horford, for instance, had to immediately wonder if he’d ever play with his de facto kid brother Tatum again. The Celtics have a new owner coming aboard, and a pending massive luxury-tax penalty is almost certain to have significant ramifications on the roster.

Heading into Game 5 without Tatum, we weren’t ready to say goodbye to them and send them off into the summer of change. And the Celtics — with Jaylen Brown and Derrick White at the forefront and Luke Kornet suddenly swatting shots like he’d watched and absorbed the Bill Russell portions of “Celtics City” before the game — were not ready to go.

There are certain things that are reasonable to expect in Game 6 Friday night. The Madison Square Garden crowd will be raucous. Jalen Brunson will be a nuisance in every way he can muster. And the Celtics — a team constructed with character in mind — will be ready to go again.

Beyond that, who really knows? It’s been a bizarre series, and the bizarre has favored the Knicks. The Celtics have a plus-35 point differential, have led every game by at least 14 points, and yet trail 3-2 due to inconsistent 3-point shooting and some regrettable late decisions in Games 1 and 2.

Maybe Game 5 was the last hurrah of a proud champion, or maybe it was the first sign of a comeback for the ages. Further answers will come Friday night. If they do go, at least they have refused to do so quietly. The Celtics are compromised in Tatum’s absence, but they remain as admirable as ever.

⋅ Jaylen Brown has played in 134 playoff games in his nine-year career. Given the stakes, circumstances, and temptations resisted, he’s never played a better one than he did in Game 5.

Brown did everything right, including playing with a poised share-the-ball approach that let’s say isn’t always part of his repertoire. He finished with 26 points, 12 assists — four more than his previous playoff high — and 8 rebounds.

He made the hustle play of the game, diving parallel to the parquet to save a ball headed out of bounds with 10:37 left in the third quarter and the Celtics leading 65-63. The Celtics outscored the Knicks 26-13 the rest of the quarter.

Defensively, he dogged Brunson up and down the court, a tireless performance reminiscent of how his defense in last season’s Finals made then-Mavericks star Luka Doncic look like he had the endurance of a banana slug.

Most impressively, Brown resisted any I’ve-got-this urge he might have had to try to take over offensively, at the expense of ball movement, in Tatum’s absence. I was worried he might, and I had to laugh at Payton Pritchard’s comment about Brown postgame, which was more illuminating than he probably intended.

“I definitely expected [Jaylen to play the way he did]. We had a talk earlier today. I knew his mind-set was in the right place. He wasn’t going to force the issue, wasn’t going to play hero ball …”

That Brown did not give in when the temptation must have been strongest was confirmation that he knows the right way to play, even if he doesn’t always heed it. He did heed it Wednesday, and ended up the hero.

⋅ It was painfully obvious that Kristaps Porzingis should not have been on the court in the first half, and it’s puzzling why it took Joe Mazzulla so long to recognize it. But I hope fans realize that this is not Porzingis’s fault. The dude is sick with this mystery virus, he’s rusty, and his gas tank is hitting empty as soon as his engine starts. He should not be playing, but that he is attempting to is the opposite of soft.