No funeral yet: Celtics take series back to Boston with 92-86 win at MSG

Jeff Green hit two huge contested corner threes just 40 seconds apart late in the 4th quarter, and Boston held on to beat New York 92-86 tonight in Game 5.

The Knicks showed up to the building each wearing all black, perhaps representing a false sense of bravado.  Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith shot a combined 11-38 from the floor, and New York made just 5 of their 22 three point attempts.

Kevin Garnett was again a monster on the boards with 18, led the team in assists with 5, and drained a dagger jumper with :48 seconds left to keep the Knicks at bay.  Five Celtics players (Garnett, Green, Paul Pierce, Brandon Bass, and Jason Terry) scored between 16 and 18 points, and Doc Rivers stuck with just 7 guys (also Avery Bradley and Terrence Williams; Courtney Lee and Jordan Crawford were notable DNP's) the whole game.  Boston made all 17 of their free throws, and shot 50% (11-22) from three point range.

After falling behind 11-0 early, the Celtics battled back and tied the game at 22 on an Bradley jumper to start the second period.  Paul Pierce's 2nd three pointer gave Boston their first lead, 34-33 with 5:46 remaining in the quarter.  A great spin move and pass in the lane by Pierce to Garnett put Boston up 40-37 with 1:30 to go, and a Terry 3 closed out an 11-2 run that gave Boston a 45-39 halftime advantage.

In the 3rd quarter the Celtics were able to avoid another of their dreaded second half scoring droughts, putting up 24 points in the frame and extending the margin to 9 (69-60) entering the final period.  A driving dunk from Green gave Boston their largest lead of the night, 75-60 with 9 minutes remaining in the ballgame.

The loss was the Knicks first home defeat in almost two months; they last fell at MSG to the Thunder 95-94 on March 7th.

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