Eastern Conference Quarterfinals - Game 5: Celtics at Knicks

"Don't let us win today."

That's a quote I'm sure nearly every Bostonian is familiar with. Former Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar said this before Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series when the Red Sox trailed the New York Yankees 3-0. We all know what happened from there.

The Celtics are now back in New York were they lost the first two games of this series by an average of 12 points.

The Knicks are out for blood tonight, and they will have reinforcements. J.R. Smith returns after being suspended for Game 4.

Kenyon Martin told reporters on Sunday that he told his teammates to wear black to the game tonight. Martin said tonight would be the Celtics' funeral. And wouldn't you know, each member of the Knicks wore black upon arriving at Madison Square Garden tonight.

Here's a preview:

Projected lineups:

Celtics:
Avery Bradley
Paul Pierce
Jeff Green
Brandon Bass
Kevin Garnett

Knicks:
Raymond Felton
Pablo Prigioni
Iman Shumpert
Carmelo Anthony
Tyson Chandler

Keys to the game:

1. Avoid the one big quarter: In each of the first four games, there has always been one bad quarter. In Game 1, it was the 8 point fourth quarter. Game 2 had an 11 point third quarter. Game 3 saw the Celtics score 13 points in the second quarter, and Game 4 saw the C's score 14 points in the third quarter. It's pretty clear that the C's need to avoid that one bad quarter, specifically the third.

2. Offensive glass: In Game 4, the Knicks outrebounded the Celtics on the offensive glass, 16-3. Yeah, that's bad. Tyson Chandler (5) had more than the entire Celtics team. By Chandler tapping the ball back out to his teammates off of missed shots, it gave the Knicks extra opportunities and they took advantage of them. Doc Rivers has made it a point over the past few days that the C's really need to limit extra chances for the Knicks. You especially don't want to give them extra chances in their own building.