New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) goes to the basket against Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday (4) in the first half during gam

BOSTON — The Celtics didn’t have Jayson Tatum. The Knicks were missing Karl-Anthony Towns. Game 5’s 127-102 ugly loss to the Celtics produced another no-show until garbage time from the Knicks center, whose impact and aggressiveness in this series remains below his All-Star status.

On Wednesday evening, the New York Knicks dropped Game 5 of their second round series vs the Boston Celtics, reducing their series lead to 3-2. The Knicks actually got off to their strongest start of the series in this one,