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Just because the Boston Celtics are without Jayson Tatum for the remainder of the playoffs after he suffered an Achilles injury, doesn’t mean that they aren’t still a formidable team. The New York Knicks found that out after the Celtics rolled to a 127-102 win in Game 5 to avoid elimination. But count Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns as one who knows just how dangerous the Celtics still can be despite the loss of their top star.
Following the Knicks’ Game 5 loss to the Celtics, Karl-Anthony Towns spoke about how formidable the Celtics are amid the loss of their star player, as per SNY Knicks.
“They’re the defending champions,” Towns said. “Obviously losing Tatum is a big blow for their team, but we know that they’re more than capable of beating anyone on any night. We just didn’t do enough to win.”
During the Celtics’ Game 5 win, they were led by Derrick White’s 34 points and Jaylen Brown’s 26 points. They also got 17 points from Payton Pritchard, 14 points from Jrue Holiday and 12 points from Al Horford. Backup center Luke Kornet had a big game with ten points, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots.
On the Knicks’ side, Towns had his double-double streak in this series snapped, finishing with 19 points and eight rebounds to go along with one steal and one blocked shot.
In Game 1, Towns finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds. In Game 2 he had 21 points and 17 rebounds. In Game 3 he finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds and in Game 4 he had 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Through the Knicks’ first ten playoff games, Towns has been averaging 19.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 blocked shots with splits of 49.3 percent shooting from the field, 37.1 percent shooting from the three-point line and 91.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Towns and the Knicks may have lost Game 5, but they will have another opportunity to eliminate the Celtics with Game 6 on their home floor. But as they found out in Game 5, the Celtics are more than capable of continuing to extend this series.
