“We were very low energy in the third quarter and it cost us the game. Anytime you give up 40 in a quarter to a good team you’re probably going to lose.”
That was a quote from Brad Stevens after Sunday night’s one-point loss. And it almost applied again in Tuesday night’s 116-110 win. Boston trailed by as much as 17 -- 88-71 -- with 2:34 to go in the third quarter.
Not this time.
“That was as physical of a quarter as I remember seeing in a long time,” Brad Stevens said. “They made a couple of shots there to kickoff the third that were OK defended. They were really physical. They came out knocking us all over the place.”
But those issues were quickly corrected just in time for a 45-23 run from that low point in the third quarter to the end of the game.
Enough was enough.
“We played with a little bit of desperation because we were down 17 and didn’t want to go out like that,” Jaylen Brown said.
Indiana used turnovers for easy offense in its big third quarter and second half offense on Sunday night. Boston did the same Tuesday night.
It was guys like Payton Pritchard sprinting in transition to catch up to Victor Oladipo and strip him before he could make a move towards the rim. Seconds later, Pritchard found an open Marcus Smart for three on the left wing. Instead of the score being 104-102, Pritchard’s steal and assist to Smart made it 107-100.
“Payton is the GOAT, man. Payton came in with confidence. Definitely needed the spark coming off the bench. Payton was everything and more for us tonight,” Brown said, raving about his rookie point guard after the win.
Boston got some easy points by going to the rim more than they did Sunday. The big comeback saw 18 free throw attempts. When both teams cooled off shooting wise in the second half, the Celtics consistently found a way to get to the free throw line, going 17-for-24 in the half.
Jayson Tatum led the comeback with 14 points in the final quarter, including 6/7 from the free throw line. He didn’t settle for step back three's, not even taking a single 3-point attempt in the quarter. An aggressive Tatum will open up his strength of creating space for midrange range or deep pull ups.
“I don’t know what the lead was for them but it sure felt like it dissipated pretty quickly. And then we were able to keep guarding. I thought our bigs did a good job late being up on the screens on Oladipo, helping us at the rim in a couple of cases. That’s a good team win,” Stevens said.
Not getting into a 17-point deficit with less than 15 minutes to play is the next step for the Celitcs. But as Brown stressed after each game, it’s all a part of the process. It’s just Game 4, after all..
LEFTOVER FROM THE NOTEBOOK
● Brad Stevens adjusted from Sunday and didn’t let Doug McDermott torch them as he curled off of screens for easy looks again. Grant Williams chased McDermott on Sunday night. Brad went to Javonte Green for 21 minutes after playing just 4 minutes all season. McDermott was no factor at all in the game.
● The Celtics are not a great offensive or defensive team right now. Some of the mistakes are easily correctable. Ten seconds after Tatum drills a three, he gives one up on the opposite end by completely losing track of his man Justin Holiday. Indiana did nothing to earn that look. Tatum just ball-watched.
● Although he played only 10 minutes, Robert Williams still is showing improvement and immediate impact when he checks in.
● Boston returns home for its third game in 4 days, hosting the Memphis Grizzlies.