The Celtics will be at home for this game, so that should give them an advantage. Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks may have some fuel added to their fire as well because of the comments that Jordan Crawford made at the end of Wednesday night’s game.

The Celtics will still be fighting for their playoff lives at the end of the day. So that should be more than enough motivation for them to get out of bed today. We’ll see how things work out by the end of the game. Here are the keys to victory:

Three Keys to Victory

• Kevin Garnett must rebound

Kevin Garnett has to be the master rebounder that he’s been in the past three games. Garnett has 35 rebounds in the last two games. That’s kept the New York Knicks from converting second chance opportunities. That’s huge for their offense in the first few games. There were key offensive rebounds that the Knicks had that put the Celtics away. They haven’t been able to close Boston out because of their better rebounding.

• Keep Raymond Felton out of the paint

Raymond Felton being in the paint allows the Knicks to get decent looks from beyond the arch. As Hardwood Houdini writer Trey Adell pointed out, the Knicks have been able to take advantage of Boston through the pick and roll multiple times in this series. That can’t be something that Boston allows in game 6. They snuck out with wins in the two previous games even though it was effective, but you never want a point guard to control the game by probing the paint. That doesn’t equate to wins.

• Play a full 48 minutes

The Celtics played their best outing as a team in the playoffs in game 5 and if they want to stay alive then they’ll need to do the same thing. Offensively they’ve struggled but defensively they’ve been fine. They’ve got to keep that defensive grit going and force Carmelo Anthony to take difficult shots. On offense, they’ve got to get a full game out of Paul Pierce, Jason Terry and Jeff Green. If they can do that then we’ll see the Celtics in the Garden for game 7.

May 1, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett (5), Boston Celtics power forward Brandon Bass (30), Boston Celtics power forward Jeff Green (8), and Boston Celtics small forward Paul Pierce (34) celebrate against the New York Knicks during the second half in game five of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. The Celtics won the game 92-86. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Celtics managed to survive another game against the New York Knicks. They gave their best offensive outing in this series. The Celtics shot 50% from beyond the arch and made every single one of their 17 free throw attempts at the line.

Though the Knicks only had 8 turnovers tonight, the Celtics still managed to come out with a victory. They kept the Knicks right where they wanted them, holding them to 39.5% shooting on the night.

The Celtics kept Carmelo Anthony in check once again holding him to 22 points on 24 shots. Raymond Felton had a nice game penetrating and getting into the paint, but that wasn’t enough to offset the shooting woes of J.R Smith and Anthony.

Kevin Garnett was phenomenal once again and provided the Celtics with the rebounding touch that they needed. He had 16 points on only 9 shots and he coupled that with 18 rebounds. Jason Terry and Paul Pierce combined for 9 three pointers tonight and Terrence Williams also gave key minutes as well.

Jeff Green and Brandon Bass were key cogs tonight as well getting buckets in transition and the half court. That’s something that the Celtics have failed to do in the previous games of this series.

Now with new life, the Celtics will take the series back to Boston and try to tie it up 3-3. If they can, they’ll have a chance to make history becoming the first team to ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in NBA history.

Apr 28, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony (7) drives the ball against Boston Celtics small forward Paul Pierce (34) during overtime in game four of the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs at TD Garden. The Celtics defeated the New York Knicks 97-90. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Celtics will visit Madison Square Garden to fight for their playoff lives once again. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit, but the Celtics made progress the other night taking their first game against the New York Knicks after dropping the first three.

They scored 97 points against a Knicks defense that held them under 80 points in every other game of the series. Jason Terry snapped out of whatever trance he was in and shot 7-10 from the field for 18 points. He made a lot of plays down the stretch to seal the game.

With all of the talk about retirement for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce recently, they sure didn’t look like they were going to retire in the last game. Paul Pierce scored 29 points, grabbed eight rebounds and passed out six assists as well. Garnett got 17 rebounds on the night also and was the anchor of the Celtics defense once again.

Three Keys to Victory

• Score score score!