'Don't count us out yet' - Brown confident in Celtics despite Tatum absence

Jaylen Brown says people should not count the Boston Celtics out just yet, after they kept their season alive by winning Game 5 against the New York Knicks.

The Celtics were on the brink of losing the Eastern Conference semifinals, but a 127-102 victory over the Knicks on Wednesday forced a Game 6, which will take place on Friday.

It was Boston's first game without Jayson Tatum following his season-ending Achilles tendon injury.

Derrick White had 34 points, including seven 3-pointers, with Brown adding 26 and a career-high 12 assists, while Luke Korney finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks.

The Celtics connected on 22 3-pointers overall as they earned their first home win of the series, while they are looking to become just the 14th team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit in 294 attempts.

Brown noted how difficult it was for Boston to hear the news about Tatum, but after dedicating the win to him, the 28-year-old is confident the Celtics can build on this result.

"The air kind of left the room after hearing the news," Brown said. "We didn't want to go out like that.

"We didn't want to make no excuses. We didn't want to come out and give up or just turn the season into what everybody else probably would expect.

"We just said to the guys, said to each other, 'Let's come out, keep an open mind'. Just come out, play basketball ... and guard your a** off.

"I know it's easy to kind of write things off… but we still got basketball to be played. I believe in this group. So, you know, don't count us out just yet."

When we needed them most, they delivered pic.twitter.com/gQiAzMl3KP
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) May 15, 2025

The Knicks will try again to win the series on Friday in New York, but they have not closed out a playoff series at home since 1999.

Josh Hart led the Knicks with 24 points, while Jalen Brunson added 22 points before fouling out. New York were held to 36% shooting and just 26 points in the paint, their fewest in the key this season.

And Hart was left frustrated after the game when asked about the level of urgency the Knicks, who gave up a first-quarter lead, need to avoid being pushed into a Game 7.

"That's such a stupid question. Every game you want to win, bro," Hart said when asked about the Knicks' need to win Game 6.

"Every game, you want to go out and compete. Obviously, we didn't do that. But the next game is the next game, and that's all we're focusing on."