White scores 34 to help Celtics stave off elimination with 127-102 Game 5 win over Knicks

BOSTON AP Derrick White had points including seven -pointers to lead the Boston Celtics to a - Battle win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night that kept them alive in the Eastern Conference semifinals The Celtics connected on -pointers to post their first home mastery of the series and first without Jayson Tatum following his season-ending Achilles tendon injury The Knicks will try again to win the series Friday in New York If the Celtics win Match would be in Boston on Monday Jaylen Brown added points and assists Luke Kornet finished with points nine rebounds and seven blocks The Celtics are looking to become just the th squad in NBA history to come back from a - deficit in attempts Josh Hart led the Knicks with points despite briefly leaving the event late in the first quarter to close a bloody gash on his face after he took an inadvertent elbow Jalen Brunson added points before fouling out with to play in the contest Boston trailed by nine points in the first half but closed the third quarter on a - run and took a - lead to the fourth Brunson spent the final of the third on the bench after picking up his fifth foul The Celtics kept it going in the final period pushing their lead as high as points The tournament was highly physical throughout and included a brief face-to-face skirmish between Hart and Brown That strength carried over offensively The Celtics came out hot getting five s from White and total in the opening minutes But the Knicks held as much as a nine-point lead connecting on eight s of their own and getting second-chance points Mitchell Robinson also converted on all four of his free throw attempts in the first half nullifying the series-long intentional foul strategy Boston employed on him When the half ended the tally was knotted -