It's been a disastrous second-round series for the Celtics, who are going to be haunted by their monumental collapses in Games 1 and 2 behind 20-point leads. As a bonus, they squandered another 19-point lead and lost star Jayson Tatum in Game 4. Even so, this team has enough depth to overcome the loss of Tatum in the short term. Reigning Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, along with veterans such as Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, are capable of picking up the slack. Although Boston's season remains in peril, look for a spirited effort in Game 5.

While the absence of Jayson Tatum (Achilles) hurts the Celtics long-term, we've seen countless examples over the years of how teams can pull together without a star in the short-term and continue to function. For much of this series there have been times when Tatum seemed to hurt the Celtics more than he helped, the timing of his many missed shots in particular. Even when he was hurt late in Monday's loss when scoring 42 points, he was on the floor when the Knicks turned around the score and forged ahead. Still, in every game during this series, Boston has held a double-digit lead, with Jaylen Brown and Derrick White still capable of leading the way. Play Celtics.

Will the Celtics slow their pace just because Jayson Tatum is out? There have been times in this series when Tatum might have hurt the Celtics more than he helped. We've thought this series has been on the verge of exploding, and scorelines definitely increased in the last two games at MSG. Back at Boston, we trust that even minus Tatum, the Celtics can better their 25% shooting from beyond the arc in the first two games of this series. Boston has been out to double-digit leads in every game in this series even when Tatum wasn't connecting, and suspect Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard & Co are hardly about to stop firing away just because Tatum is out. Play Knicks-Celtics Over.

Jayson Tatum (Achilles) is not just the best scoring option that the Celtics have. He is also their best rebounder. In this series against the Knicks, he averaged 11.8 rebounds. Mitchell Robinson has already been productive on the boards, posting at least seven rebounds in all four games. Expect him to receive enough opportunities off the glass to grab at least seven rebounds again.

This line is a significant drop-off from the -10 the Celtics closed in Game 2 at home. Despite 60% of the public betting on the Celtics, the smart money seems to be on Boston, with the consensus spread steaming to BOS -4.5. The smart money and the model are taking Boston because the Celtics have shown the ability to step up in the rare cases Tatum is out. Over the last two seasons, Boston's margin of victory when Tatum played was an impressive +9.6 points per game. In the 19 games he did not play a minute, the Celtics won by 13.2 points. The Celtics are definitely worse without Tatum, but just not as much as the odds suggest.

Sometimes the better team is just the better team, whether it's home on road. And, in the playoffs, the team that wins the fourth quarter generally wins the series. Knicks have moxie and can recover when fall behind and they own clutch time. NYK have an unreal +32.8 net rating in 4th quarter in this series, grabbing 55% of the rebounds with a +7.8 scoring margin. Celtics now without their best scorer and rebounder, already with a sorry 36.3 EFG% in 4th quarter in this series and lowly 42.7 TS%. Knicks can bully then down low and have been owning the offensive boards for second-chance opportunities when it matter most. Looks like a bad match-up for Boston.

Al Horford has had a great career however at 38 years old, this is a hefty combo line for the big man. Horford has failed to eclipse this line in 8/9 playoff appearances this year. Even without Jayson Tatum, I don’t expect Horfords usage to increase significantly. Kristaps Porzingis said he felt good for the first time in these playoffs and I anticipate him, along with Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and of course Jaylen Brown to be the primary beneficiaries with Tatum missing.

FanDuel. With Jayson Tatum off the court, Jaylen Brown, predictably, saw the biggest usage uptick in the regular season at +4%, and also the biggest assist bump, to 6.78 assists per 36 minutes (data per FantasyLabs). Brown has dished out at least five dimes in seven of eight full games without Tatum this season, and he’s cleared this line in two of four games against the Knicks this series.

Mikal Bridges is projected for just over 16 points, and even though his average on the road (15.9) is significantly lower than his average at home (19.2), he is still a very solid 27-18, 60% over on the road. He snapped out of his recent scoring slump with 23 points in Game 4. It's actually a positive sign that he was only 1 for 6 from 3-point range (3 for his last 16) because it showed he is not dependent on 3-point shooting to score. Bridges should not have to spend quite so much energy on defense with Jayson Tatum out and that should benefit him on the offensive end.

This is not a high-value model pick, with a projected line of 209 and a 51% chance of the over. The reason why we like the over is that there are two scenarios that can deliver. The first scenario is the 50% chance the teams just score 209+ in a competitive game. The second scenario is Boston, down 1-3 in the series and without their superstar, falls behind early and basically gives up defensively. Because both teams are fully aware that a 20-point lead is never safe, both teams continue to score to protect their lead or try to close the gap.

The Knicks have been, by far, the better team when it matters most - in the clutch. The loss of Jayson Tatum will be an emotional blow to Boston and KP looks like he is on fumes and shouldn't be playing much, either. This Knicks team has some assassin in them and I expect them to close out the series here. Getting their three-ball mojo back in Game 4 wasn't even enough to prevent another Celtics collapse. BOS is 5-8 ATS last 13 games and 2-4 ATS last 6 at home. NY has covered 8 of last 11 games and 7-3 ATS in the playoffs.

I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express tonight but I did just finish the excellent medical show "the Pitt" on Max, which is basically ER 2.0. I mention because if Celtics star Jayson Tatum didn't tear his Achilles' tendon in tonight's loss in NY, it's an upset. Every internet doctor is sure projecting that. I mean, we saw Paul Pierce also leave in a wheelchair years ago for Boston and return, but all he had to reportedly do was "sit on the throne" for a bit in Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals. Such a bummer for Tatum. Maybe the C's scrape out a home win to save their season, but the team has to be gutted. The Knicks are now East favorites.