The Boston Celtics championship defense is still alive. In the team's first game since losing star forward Jayson Tatum, big nights from Jaylen Brown and Derrick White helped steer the team to a 127-102 victory over the New York Knicks and cut the series deficit to 3-2.

The Celtics star appeared to grab Josh Hart’s crotch while trying to get around a pick in the early moments of the second half of the Game 5 matchup at TD Garden on Wednesday night. Hart did not take kindly to the apparent cup-check, shoving Brown in a testy exchange over that resulted in technical fouls for both.

Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics now trail the New York Knicks 3-1 in their second-round NBA playoff series after a 121-113 loss Monday night. To make matters worse, they also lost Jayson Tatum to what appeared to be a serious injury. Brown finished the game with 20 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.

Despite Tatum suffering the worst injury of his career, Jaylen Brown’s Game 5 heroics had NBA fans leaning into recency bias, claiming the former California star is being held back by Tatum. They took to social media to share their thoughts. "Brown > Tatum Batman vs Robin," one fan claimed.

The Boston Celtics let the New York Knicks run away with a critical Game 4 victory in Madison Square Garden late last night, putting their own title defense in

Jaylen Brown has always been regarded as the wingman to Jayson Tatum, even after winning NBA Finals MVP. Now he has a chance to prove he can do it alone.

The Boston Celtics are in an unenviable situation for an NBA franchise that will soon lose its title of "defending champions."Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Knicks and will likely miss the 2025-26 season.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Brunson said the NBA "needs Jayson Tatum" in the wake of the Boston Celtics star undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles suffered in the Knicks' win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.