Bill Simmons Makes Big Claim About First Celtics Game Without Jayson Tatum

Game 5 on Wednesday night was likely to go one of two ways for the Celtics: Either Boston packed in and called it a season after Jayson Tatum’s brutal Achilles injury or it would put forth a valiant season-saving effort in front of the home crowd.

The Celtics picked the latter.

Boston got off the mat and drubbed the Knicks 127-102 in a do-or-die Game 5 to keep hope alive. The series now shifts back to New York for Game 6 where another win would set up a seemingly improbable Game 7 at TD Garden.

It was a championship effort for the defending champs in their first game since losing Tatum to a ruptured Achilles at the end of Game 4. Derrick White was sensational, Luke Kornet had a career game and Jaylen Brown was the maestro of the performance.

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, like most Celtics fans, loved what he saw. It’s not just that the Celtics won the game that impressed him, but it was how the Green looked without Tatum.

“(Not having Tatum) did open he door for some stuff that has been pretty frustrating about this Celtics team,” he said Wednesday night on his podcast. “They had to band together, they all had to get a little more creative offensively. There was a lot more cutting. There was a lot more ball movement.

“Some of the stuff that handicapped this team in the past — where it was either Tatum or Brown with the ball just dribbling, especially when they had a lead and the lead would start to fritter away and then it just turned into 1-on-1 basketball — that never happened this game. The guards were more involved. Kornet was cutting. The passing was really good. That was by far the best game they’ve played in the playoffs.”

The Celtics haven’t been especially dominant at any point in these playoffs. It only took five games to send the Orlando Magic packing in the first round, but they put up a good fight. Obviously, the Knicks have presented problems with the Celtics failing to protect big leads early in the series.

So calling Game 5 the Celtics’ best game of the playoffs isn’t a particularly scorching declaration, but it almost feels wrong to say such a thing after losing one of the best players on the planet. But the Celtics did shoot the lights, hitting on 22-of-49 from 3-point land, including a 7-for-13 clinic from White. The 27 assists, led by a game-high 12 helpers from Brown, mark the highest for Boston in the series, and only the series-clinching 31-point win over Orlando saw more team assists these playoffs.

Game 6 is Friday night at Madison Square Garden.