Rudy Tomjanovich, former head coach of the Houston Rockets, once said, “Never underestimate the heart of a champion.” The  Boston Celtics embodied this adage by keeping their playoff hopes alive with a Game 5 win, 127-102, on Wednesday night over the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Playing without their star Jayson Tatum, who suffered a season-ending Achilles tear on Monday (May 12), Derrick White scored a game-high 34 points and Jaylen Brown chipped in with 26, leading the Celtics in the third quarter to run to pull away with the victory. Also, center Luke Kornet posted 10 points, nine rebounds, and seven blocks in 28 minutes of action off the bench.

For the Knicks, Josh Hart scored 24 points and Jalen Brunson added 22 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Speaking after the game, Brown detailed how the Celtics focused on the task at hand after losing Tatum for the series.

"The air kind of left the room after hearing the news," Celtics star Jaylen 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."

On Friday (May 16), the Knicks will attempt to advance to the Eastern Conference finals against the Indiana Pacers for the first time since 2000. The Celtics, meanwhile, are trying to avoid becoming the sixth straight reigning NBA champion to get knocked out in the second round or earlier. 

In the Western Conference semifinals matchup, the Minnesota Timberwolves closed out the Golden State Warriors to reach the second straight Western Conference finals with a 121-110 win. 

Dominating the game from the start, Julius Randle set the tone with another strong performance. He scored 29 points, pulled eight rebounds, and handed out five assists. 

“I just try to do my best to read the game in the best way I can,” Randle said after the game.“They threw different coverages at us all series long.”

Along with Randle’s strong game, Anthony Edwards added 22 points and a playoff career-high 12 assists. Six Timberwolves players scored in double figures.

For the Warriors, Brandin Podziemski had a playoff career-high 28 points, but they were never the same team after Stephen Curry left Game 1 with a hamstring strain.

“I don’t want to take anything away from what Minnesota just accomplished,” coach Steve Kerr said. “No sense in even talking about Steph.”

With Curry’s absence, Jimmy Butler was expected to activate “Playoff Jimmy,” but he struggled with an illness while recovering from an injury and was constantly hounded by the Timbeloves' defense.

Kerr had nothing but praise for Butler following the loss.

"Jimmy changed our season," Kerr said. "Flipped everything for us, gave us a chance. We became one of the best teams in the league."

Next up for the Timberwolves is the winner of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets series. Their game is scheduled for Thursday at 8:30 in Denver.