If the Knicks were dressed for a funeral, it appears they dressed for their own funeral.
The basketball gods punished the Knicks for their trash talk and arrogance.Kenyon Martin, the master-mind behind the all-black attire idea, had 2 points, 2 rebounds and 5 fouls in 13 awful minutes. J.R. Smith, who said the series would have ended Sunday had he played, could not walk the talk. Smith started the game 0-of-10 from the field and finished 3-of-14 -- one of the three field goals was a meaningless three-pointer as time expired.
They blew a chance to bury these old, washed-up Celtics. Boston showed some "grit and balls" as they edged the Knicks, 92-86.
After being down 11-0 to start the game, the Celtics hung in there and slowly chipped away at New York's lead. They went on to outscore New York in the first half, 45-28.
Although Doc Rivers cut his rotation very short, the Celtics played team basketball. All seven guys that played contributed in one way or another. Five of the seven scored at least 16 points. That is balance. That is team basketball.
Here's a recap:
The good:
* After being called the MVP of Game 4 by his head coach, Brandon Bass was probably the MVP of this one as well. Bass carried the Celtics in the first frame when their offense was non-existent, as he scored 9 points on 3-of-3 from the field. Bass finished the game with 17 points and 5 rebounds. What was more impressive than his offense was his superb defense on Carmelo Anthony. For the second straight game, Bass shut Anthony down. Over his past two games, Anthony is 18-of-59 from the floor and has missed his last 11 three-point attempts, all largely due to Bass's defense.
* Kevin Garnett became the first player since Larry Bird to finish a playoff game with at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists. On the night, Garnett had 16 points, 18 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Garnett hit a crucial 20-foot jumper to give the Celtics a 90-83 lead with 48 seconds remaining. It was the third straight game in which Garnett has grabbed at least 17 rebounds.
* What's so fascinating about the Celtics is that they still haven't figured out their rotation. After leap-frogging Courtney Lee earlier in the series, Jordan Crawford did not play a single second last night. He was leap-frogged by the forgotten Terrence Williams. Williams did an exceptional job. His size was valuable on the boards and on the defensive end. His ball-handling skills were necessary after Avery Bradley struggled mightily. Williams only finished with 4 points and 4 rebounds, but he played a solid 17 minutes.
* The C's held the Knicks to 22% (5-of-22) from three-point land. The Knicks have lived and died by the three-ball all year, and they have died by it lately. The C's have done a tremendous job of running the Knicks off the three-point line and forcing them to take difficult, contested shots. The general consensus coming into the series was that if the Knicks were to make 10 threes in a game, they would win. In the Celtics' two wins, the Knicks have combined for 12 threes.
The bad:
* The Celtics have to find a way to stop Raymond Felton from getting into the paint so easily. Once again, Felton was phenomenal, scoring 21 points on 10-of-19 from the floor and grabbing 6 rebounds. Last night, Felton was 1-of-7 outside the paint and 9-of-12 inside it. He got to the rim at will off screens. The Celtics need to figured out how to keep him outside the paint in Game 6.
* Before the game, Rivers told Comcast SportsNet New England play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman that one of the stats to keep an eye on is turnovers. The Celtics turned the ball over 17 times to the Knicks 9. Boston only scored 4 points off Knick turnovers while the Knicks scored 16 points off Celtic turnovers. The Knicks do a good job of taking care of the ball. Going back home, the Celtics can ill-afford to pile up the turnovers.
Boston has a chance to even the series at three games a piece tomorrow night at TD Garden. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
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