NEW YORK – After falling behind 0-2, there was no panic from the Celtics. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Al Horford — a trio that’s played in 17 postseason series together — each made it clear they’d been here before. And they welcomed the challenge.
“This group, a lot of us have been in so many different playoff situations and series. It’s not like it’s our first time,” said Tatum. “Sometimes you need to lean on that experience. We’ve been in situations like this before where we’ve had to get ourselves out of a hole, and we figured it out.”
The Celtics’ top six – Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis – have played in 639 playoff games. If you add in Payton Pritchard, that number jumps north of 700. They’re a battle-tested core that trusts their identity. And as questions about their toughness and playing style circled in the 72 hours leading up to Game 3, the Celtics never wavered — and when it mattered most, they delivered.
“No,” Mazzulla said bluntly with a smile when asked if the last 72 hours had been difficult. “I’ve said it a thousand times, there’s no one way of how this is supposed to go. You get caught up in your expectations. There are no expectations here. We’re on a path of trying to go after greatness. You don’t get to dictate the tests that are in front of you. All you get to dictate is how you approach it and how you respond to it. If you plan on doing this for a long time, then trust me, it will be a lot worse, and that’s the perspective you have to have. At the end of the day, we’ve got a test in front of us, and I’ve got a group of guys I wouldn’t want anyone else to be able to go through that. This is the fun part. You don’t get into the journey for it to be easy. It’s been dark, but in a good way.”
“You have to tap into your darkness,” he added.
Perhaps that darkness reminded them of who they are.
In Game 3, the Celtics looked like themselves, overwhelming the Knicks with a 22-point win on the road. They led by as many as 31 and never trailed, seizing a pivotal swing in the series.
“You wouldn’t want to be in any other position as a competitor. This is the best moment you can be in, down 2-0, backs against the wall. You just bring it,” said Pritchard. “I think we were all prepared for it. We knew what task was at hand. We did a good job today. Now, we’ve got to move on and do it again.”
The reigning champions acted as if they had been there before. Every time the Knicks threw a punch, the Celtics threw two back. They quieted a raucous Garden crowd early, sending the likes of Eli Manning, Michael Strahan, CC Sabathia, J.R. Smith — and most of the sold-out Madison Square Garden — to their dinner reservations by the fourth quarter.
“I think tonight we did a much better job of just playing 48 minutes. We got open shots, shooting with confidence, knock them down,” said Brown. “We’ve got great shooters on this team. Still got to continue to get to the paint and continue to put pressure on the rim, and I think we can even shoot the ball even better, and you can be more aggressive, and as we get more comfortable in this series, hopefully we’ll be able to see that.”
Boston defended at a high level, holding New York to just 93 points — their fewest at home this season. The Knicks shot just 32-of-80 (40%) from the field and 5-of-25 (20%) from three. They reached one of Mazzulla’s favorite benchmarks — holding a team under 25 points in a quarter — in three of the four. And in the one they missed, they only allowed 26.
Offensively, they finally saw some shots go down from three, knocking 20 of their 40 attempts (50%). After entering the night a combined 25-of-100 (25%), their 50% in Game 3 marked just the third time in franchise history that Boston made at least 20 three-pointers while shooting at least 50%. They racked up 22 assists, advancing to 3-0 this postseason when recording at least 20 assists, with all of those wins coming by double digits.
“It was just a matter of time,” said on the shot-making. “We’re all professionals, and we work really hard on our craft and put a lot of time in. You understand there’s times where your shot might not be falling but it always balances out.”
It was this kind of poise — executing at a high level, limiting turnovers, focusing on the details, and playing elite defense- that propelled the Celtics to a championship last spring. And it was the difference-maker again in Game 3. Of course, finally knocking down open shots helped, as well.
“No. That’s the easy thing to look at, but we won the end of quarters, and we didn’t have 11 live-ball turnovers,” Mazzulla said when asked if the difference was as simple as making shots. “I can’t stress to you enough the importance of not throwing the ball to the other team so they get out in transition. And not ending quarters well. You have to start and end quarters well. You have to value the basketball. You have to win the margins. That’s all we talked about over the last 72 hours. That’s the most important thing.”
The Celtics aren’t completely out of the darkness. If they lose Game 4, only 13 teams have come back from a 1-3 deficit to win a series. But the reminder of just how dominant they can be when they stick to their identity should have them feeling pretty good as they look to do it all again on Monday night.
“You’ve got to beat us four times,” said Brown. “That’s what it comes down to, not twice, not once, not three. Got to win four games. So, it’s a lot of basketball to be played.”
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