Knicks Star Duo No-Show in Closeout Game

The New York Knicks returned to Boston for last night's Game 5 with hopes of disposing of the reigning champion Celtics in a clean gentleman's sweep.

They'd won three of the first four games of the series in heroic fashion with various comebacks thrown into each victory, and the Achilles tear that Celtics star Jayson Tatum suffered in the waning minutes of Game 4 certainly seemed to put a hard cap on Boston's title aspirations in 2025.

The New York starting lineup turned in several all-around duds with a chance to advance to their first conference finals in a quarter century. Josh Hart left the game with a team-high 24 points and a grisly injury to the face, but he received little support from his teammates, particularly the two wings in the midst of otherwise-productive series.

Mikal Bridges has risen above what many expected of him in this second round matchup, contributing several stifling defensive plays in the clutch and scoring at will from the midrange to repeatedly sneak back up on the complacent Celtics. Bridges still finished Game 5 with a steal and a block on the stat sheet, but lacked much impact on either side of the ball after spending the last week reminding New York why the team traded five first-round picks to get him from Brooklyn.

His 4/14 shooting wasn't pretty, but that was nothing compared to the wall that OG Anunoby has run into.

The Knicks' other wing is a burlier defensive presence who relies more on his strength than his wingspan, solidifying several standout performances as the designated Tatum-stopper in helping the Knicks jump out to a surprising 2-0 lead to the series.

He's been wildly inconsistent on offense, though, scoring 20 or more twice while totaling just 13 points between Games 2, 3 and 5. He shot 1/12 on Wednesday, looking completely stifled by Luke Kornet on his seven-block career night.

The Knicks didn't get the best performances out of Jalen Brunson or Karl-Anthony Towns in New York's first playoff loss away from Madison Square Garden last night, but they'll need more than five combined buckets from their wing tandem if they want a good shot at putting the Celtics away before the lurking contenders force a Game 7. Tatum is done for the series, giving New York a hypothetical series advantage that they'll have to take advantage of to survive and advance.