A View From Maine: It’s Not Over For The Celtics Heading Into Game 5 Tonight in Boston

When it comes to being a Celtics fan in Maine, I'm pretty sure that if you were to slice and dice me I would actually bleed green. For the record, I really don't want to be sliced and/or diced, thank you.

However, my point here is this, I love the Celtics as much as any one person could ever love a sports team. I know I'm not alone in this either. Each night that the Celtics play, thousands of us Mainers (and others throughout New England) put on our Celtics swag and get ready to watch the Fab 5 hit the court.

If you were watching game 4 the other night against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, you know that things just got real for the Celtics and their fans alike. Late in the 4th quarter, Jayson Tatum, who had put up 42 points, went down trying to secure a loose ball. He wasn't touched, he didn't seem to roll an ankle, he just fell.

Late in the day on Tuesday, our worst fears were confirmed. The reining Celtics star, number 0, ruptured his Achilles tendon and needed surgery. Fortunately surgery went well and, according to NBC Sports Boston, Tatum is expected to make a full recovery. The problem? That recovery will likely take the better part of a year.

So what does this mean for tonight going into Game 5 against the Knicks down 3 games to 1? Well, it DOESN'T mean that we just roll over and give up. It means that we dig deep into our Celtics pride and hope that the stellar bench can drum up another win.

If Sam Hauser is feeling a bit better, he is the obvious choice to start at the power forward position typically occupied by Tatum. It also means that our 6th Man Of The Year, Payton Pritchard, needs to check his pockets for extra threes off the bench.

I'm not saying that it can't be done, I'm just saying we're gonna have to work for it. Horford, KP, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday a D-White are going to have to bring the heat in Boston tonight.

Can they do it? Absolutely they can.

Will they? We'll have to wait and see.