‘This is the fun part:’ Celtics rediscover their game, but the challenge is far from over

Sports

add

NEW YORK — You’d be hard-pressed to find many who actually believed the New York Knicks would take full advantage of the Boston Celtics apparently being on the ropes and issue a knockout punch after two shocking comeback wins on the road.

That’s because the Celtics put themselves there and rope-a-doped the Knicks into falsified hope, that returning to a crazed Madison Square Garden was going to bring out the absolute best in the home team.

Advertisement

It almost feels annoying at this point. The defending champion Celtics are seemingly creating new challenges for themselves on the road to a repeat, that the mere competition of it isn’t enough.

They’re like thrill seekers looking for the next high, seeing what trick they can pull off next.

“And with our next feat, watch us quiet 20,000 loud and happy New Yorkers in one swoop!”

It took approximately 20 minutes of real time to see how serious the Celtics were in getting back into this second-round series, 20 minutes to show how unserious they’ve been in the friendly confines of the Boston Garden.

There wouldn’t be a third 20-point deficit the Celtics would foolishly give up, and therefore they didn’t lose three straight, squashing the Knicks quite easily with a 115-93 rout Saturday afternoon.

Advertisement

As much as the Celtics reasserted their dominance reminded themselves who they are in this series, they still trail 2-1 and must tie the series on Monday night. Otherwise, they’ll be facing elimination and risking becoming the third straight defending champion to lose in the second round.

But nobody truly believes that will be the case if the Celtics play a game where they halfway concentrate. They made 20 triples Saturday and held the Knicks to just five, they refused to allow Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns to get into any type of good rhythm, and Payton Pritchard came off the bench to hit five threes and lead the team in scoring with 23 points.

In other words, they played a typical May Celtics game on the road, which kept Knicks fans quiet and frustrated.

Advertisement

“It’s the playoffs. It’s gonna be a different narrative, essentially after every game,” Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said. “I’ve been on record, I’ve talked about it a lot, not riding the emotional roller-coaster after a win or loss. We’ve been through a lot of games, a lot of series together.

“Home court is important. Being great in front of our fans is important — we value their support. But at the same time, if you wanna be special, if you wanna be great, you gotta win some games on the road. But more importantly, it’s about responding.”

This most recent narrative was about the Celtics’ inability to hold leads as the Knicks walked them down in the previous two fourth quarters, when Boston’s offense turned too anemic, too 3-point heavy and unimaginative.

Shooting 20% from the field and 15% from 3-point range, the fourth-quarter output in Games 1 and 2, tends to bring out credible critique.

Advertisement

The Celtics weren’t going to change who they are overnight.

They still took 40 threes in Game 3 and still fouled Knicks backup center Mitchell Robinson intentionally to send him to the line, probably driving him to the edge as each miss (4-of-12) ratcheted the anxiety for him and the crowd.

And they played such connected defense, a fourth-quarter comeback wasn’t going to occur — nor one in the third quarter or second. They held a 25-point halftime lead and didn’t allow the Knicks much life.

Maybe that’s because coach Joe Mazzulla went to one of those weird places in the last few days.

“You gotta tap into your darkness,” Mazzulla said, straight-faced. “You gotta do it.

Advertisement

“We had a test in front of us and a group of guys I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through this with. This is the fun part.”

The Celtics had only eight turnovers and showed, at least from this view, the only way they’ll lose this series and maybe any this postseason, is if they beat themselves.

“You gotta beat us four times, that’s what it comes down to,” Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said. “Not twice, not once, not three, you gotta win four games. So it’s a lot of basketball to be played.”

Brown didn’t have the best shooting night, going 7 of 18, but he attacked the basket and didn’t settle too much for contested 3-point attempts, and finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

Advertisement

Tatum had a rare great night from 3-point range, hitting 5 of 9 on the way to 22 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, but he struggled from two again as the Knicks put the bigger Towns and Robinson on him.

In theory, he should blow by them and force a more conventional matchup, but he hasn’t exploited it so far. For his standards, he should probably expect more from himself — even if it didn’t come close to costing him here.

Coming into the game, Tatum has played 45 playoff games with Mazzulla as head coach, and eight of his average 20 shot attempts per night have come from the 3-point line.

In that time span, he’s taken the most 3s (355) and only LeBron James (30%) has a lower accuracy from there, with Tatum shooting 30.7% from distance.

Advertisement

The let-it-fly strategy, at least with Tatum to this point, doesn’t seem to suit him best. And he’s taken criticism for it — more so for moments when his play doesn’t meet expectations.

“You understand … what comes with being ‘that guy,’” Tatum said. “I get a lot of praise, I get a lot of credit, I get a lot of accolades. But, you know, I’m not perfect. There’s times where, you know, I needed to play better. I needed to do more. And that’s what comes with being ‘that guy.’

“People don’t just criticize me. There’s a lot of people came before me they criticize and a lot of people after me that they’ll criticize.”

Tatum takes the heat for things that he’s not more than and for what’s beyond his control. It comes with being a champion, wanting to be a face of the NBA and the expectation he should take this postseason and put his personal stamp on matters.

Advertisement

And as great as the Celtics personnel is, they’re going through their own nicks and injuries this year. Kristaps Porziņģis can’t get in front of what’s bothering him, and Jrue Holiday has been battling a hamstring injury.

More will be required from Tatum. This game isn’t enough.

“For me, it’s just a sense of joy that I played with, right? You know, coming into a game angry face and mad at the world. That’s not who I am,” Tatum said. “That’s not when I play my best. So I always say, you got to be the same person when things are going great and when things aren’t going great. You can’t switch up.”

It’s clear the Celtics won’t do much switching up, or give too much oxygen to even valid criticism. Being themselves should be enough to beat the Knicks in the long run, and they hope it’s enough for when things get undeniably tougher.

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

Corey Seager leads homer parade as Rangers blast Tigers

Sports

Next

trending_flat

Powerball winning numbers for today’s draw, 10/05/25: Jackpot of $82 million

Agency_LATINWEB