After Jayson Tatum's season-ending injury, the Celtics needed to regroup ahead of an elimination game, so they relied on two of their trusty veterans.

Luke Kornet was blocking shots and barking at the crowd throughout his epic Game 5 performance on Wednesday night, helping the Boston Celtics stave off elimination against the New York Knicks.Kornet was a monster off the Boston bench in the team's 127-102 victory,

The Boston Celtics are still alive against the New York Knicks. The Celtics pulled away to win Game 5, 127-102, on Wednesday night without star forward Jayson Tatum. The Knicks still lead the series, 3-2, and will have another chance to move to the Eastern Conference finals in Friday's Game 6.

The Celtics are poised to have the most expensive payroll and tax bill in the history of the NBA thanks to the punitive new rules of the league's collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which was created in part to make life difficult for ball clubs like Boston with very stacked (and expensive) rosters.

Kornett was the presence inside the Celtics have needed Kristaps Porzingis to be this series. Jaylen Brown also had 26 points, 12 assists.

Facing elimination, the Boston Celtics were led by Derrick White and Jaylen Brown to get the Game 5 victory and force a Game 6 against New York.

The Celtics were clicking on all cylinders, with Derrick White leading the way. The role player, who has become much more than just that in recent years, finished with 34 points, shooting 7-of-13 from deep in the win.

For the second game in a row, White had the hot hand in the first quarter, draining his first four 3-point attempts.

Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks had the chance to put away the rival Boston Celtics and move on to the Eastern Conference Finals, but fell short in a physical contest that ended with Brunson on the bench.