After two road wins, Knicks focus in on Game 3 vs. Celtics

New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau had a simple message for his players heading into their matchup against the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series.

The Knicks grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series after storming back from 20-point deficits in back-to-back games. Thibodeau told his players to forget all about that.

“It’s really irrelevant,” Thibodeau said. “I think the big thing is to understand what it’s going to take to win Game 3, to not get lost in if you’re up (in the series). That doesn’t guarantee anything. What we have to understand is what we have to do to win Game 3.”

Meanwhile, the Celtics expect to play with a hint of desperation when Game 3 tips off on Saturday afternoon in New York.

Boston finished 61-21 in the regular season and earned the second seed in the conference playoffs. But the Celtics fumbled big leads in the first two games of the series, which resulted in a 108-105 overtime win by the third-seeded Knicks in Game 1 and a 91-90 win for the Knicks in Game 2.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla knows the series will not get any easier at Madison Square Garden.

“You’re down 2-0 heading on the road,” Mazzulla said. “You have an understanding of your environment and what you’re up against. There’s also obviously a lot of things that we’re doing well, but then there’s things that we need to be extremely better at in those situations.

“We’re down 0-2. We’ve got to get on the road and we’ve got to find a way to win.”

For Boston, that likely means Jayson Tatum will need to play better. He is averaging 18 points in the first two games but he is shooting a lowly 28.6 percent (12 of 42) overall and 25 percent (5 of 20) from beyond the arc.

Jaylen Brown (21.5 points per game) and Derrick White (19.5) lead the Celtics in scoring in the series, but the team has struggled to find its rhythm on offense. Boston is shooting 35.6 percent overall and 25 percent from 3-point range in the first two games.

The Knicks’ top scorer in the series is Jalen Brunson at 23 points per game. Josh Hart is next with 18.5 points per game, and Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 17.5 points and 15 rebounds through the first two games.

New York is shooting 42.8 percent overall and 38.2 percent from 3-point range.

Mazzulla was asked whether Boston’s struggles on offense, including its loose-ball turnovers, were a result of self-inflicted mistakes by the Celtics or great defense by the Knicks.

“I think it’s both,” Mazzulla said. “I think it’s on us, I think it’s on me to call better plays, it’s on our guys to make better reads. And obviously the Knicks are doing a good job defending us.”

That is something Thibodeau wants to continue to see from his team. He said it was great that the series was shifting to the Knicks’ home court, but ultimately his players’ mindset would matter much more than the venue.

“We have great fans, and we certainly appreciate the fans and the arena and all that,” Thibodeau said. “But what we have to understand is what goes into winning Game 3. You have to earn it. It’s not given to you. There’s no guarantee because you’re up in the series. There’s no guarantee because you’re at home. You have to earn it, and you have to earn it play after play.”

–Field Level Media