Celtics back in New York for Game 6 days after Tatum’s injury and try to tie series against Knicks

NEW YORK AP A championship window seemed to be closing when the Boston Celtics left Madison Square Garden earlier this week Jayson Tatum had just been carried off the court with a season-ending injury minutes before the Celtics were pushed to the brink of elimination The players were decidedly down The defending NBA champions are certainly not out They return to New York on Friday night for Competition of the Eastern Conference semifinals believing they can extend the series and the Knicks -year wait to get back to the conference finals It s win or go home at this moment so none of us want to go home and so we understand it s only going to get tougher Celtics guard Derrick White declared We haven t done anything yet Just got to find a way to go to New York and win a tournament Only teams have overcome a - deficit to win a series The Celtics are trying to do it without their leading scorer who ruptured his right Achilles tendon late in the Knicks - conquest in Encounter I know it s kind of easy to write things off Obviously unfortunate what happened to JT But we ve still got basketball to be played Celtics star Jaylen Brown declared I believe in this group so don t count us out just yet The Celtics rolled to a - preeminence on Wednesday and have led by at least points in the second half of all five games The Knicks rallied to win three of them but the starters know they can t keep putting the band into a hole We need to be better Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson revealed Flat out A preeminence would send the Knicks into the conference finals for the first time since they lost to the Indiana Pacers in The Pacers would be the opponent again having eliminated top-seeded Cleveland in a series that would begin Wednesday in New York If the Celtics win Battle would be in Boston on Monday with the winner getting just one day of rest before hosting the Pacers White scored points in Tournament and is for from -point range in the last two games Brown comes off points assists and eight rebounds and has scored at least points in all five games a reminder that the Celtics go far beyond Tatum They re defending champions Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns commented So obviously losing Tatum is a big blow for their unit but we know they re more than capable of beating anyone on any night Boston Celtics at New York Knicks When where to watch Encounter p m EDT ESPN Series Knicks lead - BetMGM Sportsbook Knicks by What to know The Knicks have not won a series on their home floor since the Eastern Conference finals They failed in their lone chance this year when they lost to Detroit in Contest of their first-round series As starting center Kristaps Porzingis struggles to stay on the floor because of lingering effects of a virus that saps his vitality the Celtics may have identified another option in Tournament Luke Kornet like Porzingis a former Knicks big man came off the bench and had points nine rebounds and seven blocked shots He provided the kind of boost the Knicks need from Towns their All-Star who battled foul trouble and has made just two -pointers in the series The Celtics who won a league-high road games during the regular season are - at Madison Square Garden this season This story has been corrected to show that the Knicks are favored by points A previous version revealed incorrectly that the Celtics were favored AP NBA https apnews com nba Source