The Celtics Entered Madison Square Garden And Went Full Belt To Ass To Keep Their Season Alive And Take Game 3

Al Bello. Getty Images.

That's 1.

For now, that's all this means. One game at a time, one quarter and a time, one possession at a time. I'm not sure what the hell is going on in the NBA right now when it comes to home teams losing on their own floor in the playoffs, but I can't lie, I am damn happy that trend continued this afternoon. Given the disasters from Game 1&2, the Celts only option was to punch back and win both in MSG. I'm not a huge math guy, but in order to win both, you have to win the first one.

While this was technically Game 3, make no mistake, this may as well have been a Game 7. You fall down 0-3, congratulations your season is over. A split means nothing if you drop Game 3. It was every bit a must win as a must win can be, and look at how the defending Champs responded. 

They were normal.

As has been the case all series, all this team has to do is be normal. Stop making NBA history with missed 3s, stop missing 14 straight shots in the 4th, and stop being the first team in NBA history to blow 20 point leads in back to back games.

Just. Be. Normal.

Their normal is enough. There wasn't any sort of change in their system or their approach in this Game 3 beatdown. The Celtics didn't do anything special, and frankly I still don't think they even played to their ceiling. The difference? They stopped missing every single shot they took, especially from deep

Almost like it's not really the Knicks defense, it's just been the Celtics collectively shooting like a bunch of assholes. Right away they punched first in that first quarter going 6-7 from deep, and finally, after building a 20+ lead for the 3rd straight game the Celts actually didn't allow it to dip below 20 for about 85% of the game. The Knicks never challenged, any potential run was matched and then put to bed, even in the 4th quarter when things got dicey, the Celts stayed true to who they are and made enough plays to keep the Knicks at an arms length, which didn't allow the crowd to get into it. 

Advertisement

If that was big bad MSG, it lasted for about 2 minutes in the first quarter. This is what I tried to tell you all this morning. The Celtics in the playoffs on the road are a different beast. They are historic. 

They looked at this challenge in the face and met it head on, starting with their two best players

Exactly the showing the Celts needed from their two best guys. Both were super efficient in the first half, only had 2 combined TOs and that helped set the tone right away. In games like this, the Celts season is always going to come down to whether these guys show up or not, and I thought tonight they showed up in spades, especially on both ends. 

Thankfully, in such a must win game it was also nice to see the "others" help out their two stars. This was about as complete a performance you're going to get from everyone who played, all filling their role and giving the game what it needed at any given moment

Advertisement

Payton Pritchard especially. What a monster performance from the 6MOY on the biggest stage. Efficient from the floor, 5 3PM, a total of 0 TOs in his 34 minutes and big buckets down the stretch when the Celts really needed someone to step up and make a shot

For the first time this series, the Celtics actually looked like the Celtics for a full 48 minutes, which also includes their not so great moments. The Jays in the second half still struggled to score, Tatum wasn't all that great in the 4th, rebounding was an issue at times, I don't know what to do about KP because he had his moments but he's still not quite a positive overall and I'm not sure he can even jump. 

The bottom line is, in a game the Celtics need to have, they got it in dominant fashion from the opening tip. They at no point were intimidated by the bright lights of MSG. If anything, it fueled them. Jayson Tatum had to deliver, and he did. Jaylen Brown had to deliver, and he did. The role players had to deliver, and they did. Joe Mazzulla had to deliver, and he did.

Now the door is cracked open. The Knicks doubt will start to fester. Suddenly all that momentum has taken a hit, and now it's the Celts who have the opportunity to twist the screws once this series now goes back to Boston.

Getting 1 was huge. That game being Game 3 was a non-negotiable. The Celts did both, and now it's on to Monday. 

We'll dive in deeper in the morning. For now, we exhale.

5 down, 11 to go. LFG.