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The Boston Celtics were able to keep their season alive after defeating the New York Knicks in Game 5, and they'll have to continue to do so without Jayson Tatum. It's obvious that the Celtics still have enough talent on the team to win games, but without their best player, things will be different. Some people think the loss of Tatum will benefit the Celtics, and Emmanuel Acho noted that he thinks the Celtics are now more mentally tough with Jaylen Brown as the No. 1 option.
The Celtics match up better against the Knicks without Jayson Tatum than they do with him.
Give me two minutes to show you something you may have missed, and I’ll convince you exactly why: pic.twitter.com/HD0pVeODF3
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) May 15, 2025
Kevin Durant, who is an active social media user, caught wind of Acho's comments and shut them down immediately.
“Hot take artist have ruined the sport. Football guys, no disrespect but yall boys need to stay In ya lanes, u don’t know what it’s like it between these lines man give it a break. Dudes who quit football early to pursue media talkin mental toughness, cut it out,” Durant wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Hilariously enough, one of the first people to agree with Durant was Kendrick Perkins, who said, “One [of] the few times I agree with you.”
Though the Celtics might not be a better team without Tatum, saying that they'll be better mentally just doesn't seem right, and it makes it seem like he isn't mentally tough at all. It was indeed a hot take, and luckily, Durant called out Acho for it.
Do the Celtics still have a chance without Jayson Tatum?
The Celtics showed in Game 5 that when they keep playing their brand of basketball, they're going to be hard to stop, regardless of who is on the floor. Their defense is still flying everywhere, and when they're hitting their 3-pointers, they're virtually one of the hardest teams to stop.
Even though it was Brown and Derrick White who took care of the scoring load for the Celtics, it was Luke Kornet who was the game changer in their previous win, finishing with 10 points, nine rebounds, and seven blocks. If he can continue to play like that off the bench, the Celtics will have a good chance of extending this series to a Game 7.
It's obvious that the Celtics have lost their leading scorer, but that just means that other players are going to have to step up. The Knicks should know how important it is for them to win Game 6, because anything can happen if it get to a Game 7.
