With the score tied at halftime, Boston used a dominant quarter to seize control and surge to a 14-point third-quarter lead for the fifth game in a row in this Eastern Conference semifinal against the Knicks. But this time, there would be no collapse.

The Boston Celtics should have folded like a wet cardboard box. But they did not, and instead put together one of their best games in recent memory.

Derrick White had 34 points, including seven 3-pointers, to lead the Boston Celtics to a 127-102 Game 5 win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night that kept them alive in the Eastern Conference s