BOSTON — Forty-eight hours after losing their centerpiece superstar to a potentially career-altering Achilles injury, the Celtics delivered an emphatic message to the New York Knicks:

Even without Jayson Tatum, they’re still the defending champs. And they’re not dead yet.

Facing elimination on its home floor, Boston steamrolled the Knicks, 127-102, to take Game 5 at TD Garden and extend the Eastern Conference semifinals. Game 6 is Friday at Madison Square Garden.

Jaylen Brown met the moment in his co-star’s absence, finishing with 26 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds, one steal and just one turnover while methodically targeting Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Derrick White was the top scorer for Boston, going 7 for 13 from 3-point range and 9 for 11 from the foul line for a game-high 34 points.

Center Luke Kornet was excellent off the bench with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks, six of which came in the second half as the Celtics built and then protected a double-digit lead. They now trail the best-of-seven series 3-2.

Brunson, who skewered the Celtics’ defense in Game 4, scored 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting before fouling out with 7:18 remaining. The Knicks also got little from two their top role players, with starting wings Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby going a combined 5 for 26. Josh Hart scored 24 points and was 5 for 9 from 3 but was a minus-24.

White carried the Celtics’ offense early with another torrid start from distance, making his first four 3-point attempts for the second straight game. The guard scored nearly half of Boston’s 30 first-quarter points, with Brown, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser adding one 3-pointer apiece.

Pritchard logged a playoff career high 39 minutes in the win. He hit five 3s, scored 17 points and was a plus-24. Hauser (six points in 15 minutes) was making his first appearance since Game 1 of the series, having sat out the previous three with an ankle sprain.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla also gave a rare first-quarter cameo to non-rotation wing Torrey Craig, who hadn’t played a minute outside garbage time since the regular season. Craig’s assignment might have simply been to foul Mitchell Robinson, as he played one minute and did so once before heading back to the bench.

The Celtics have willingly put Robinson on the line throughout the series, hoping his poor free-throw shooting would force him off the floor and mitigate his sizable impact as a defender and offensive rebounder. But the Knicks big man was uncharacteristically efficient from the line in this one, going 6 for 6 while racking up 13 rebounds, two steals and one block.

The Knicks led 32-30 at the end of one, then opened the second quarter with a 10-3 run that stretched their lead to nine. The short-handed Celtics responded with an 8-0 run of their own, setting the stage for a frenetic final seven minutes of the first half that featured seven lead changes and two ties. During one especially explosive stretch, Boston and New York scored on nine out of 10 possessions, including 3-pointers by Pritchard, White and Brown and two 3s by Hart, who was bloodied earlier in the game when he collided with Kornet under the basket.

The teams entered halftime tied at 59.

Brown was a steadying presence for Boston in the first half, complementing White’s productive perimeter game with 7-of-11 shooting, seven rebounds, six assists and just one turnover. The same could not be said for Kristaps Porzingis, whose lingering viral illness has severely diminished his effectiveness this postseason. Making his first start since Game 1, the big man went 0 for 3 with one rebound and was a minus-12 in 12 first-half minutes.

Mazzulla opted to start the second half with Kornet in Porzingis’ spot, and Porzingis watched the rest of the game from the bench.

Brown and White remained heavily involved the third quarter. The former opened the second half by going face-to-face with Hart during a post-whistle scuffle that resulted in double technical fouls, then leaped into the Celtics bench to successfully save a loose ball. Brown also effectively attacked Towns, who picked up his fourth foul less than four minutes after halftime.

The game turned on a call moments before that, when White was whistled for an offensive foul with the Celtics ahead 69-67. Mazzulla challenged the call and won, giving White two free throws and Brunson three fouls. Boston proceeded to score 17 of the next 20 points — a flurry that included White’s seventh made 3 of the night and a three-shot foul that he drew on another long-range attempt.

Brunson also joined Towns in foul trouble during that Celtics surge, going from zero fouls at halftime to five by the time the third quarter ended.

The true star of the quarter, though, was Kornet. The veteran center, who’s coming off the best season of his whirlwind career, blocked five Knicks shots in one six-minute span and followed up the last with an emphatic dunk.

Kornet played the entire third quarter before giving way to Horford, who immediately hit a 3, forced a turnover and tipped in a second-chance layup as Boston’s lead swelled to 20. Horford then was called for his fifth foul and retreated to the bench, at which point Kornet reentered and did not exit until Mazzulla sent in his subs with 2:34 remaining and the Celtics up by 24.

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