The Boston Celtics insisted they weren’t concerned by dropping the first two games of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the New York Knicks.
They stuck to the story despite those two setbacks coming at home. Even the fact they swept the four regular-season meetings and nearly all observers projected New York to be the team down 0-2 didn’t cause a lot of distress.
Blowing 20-point leads in both Games 1 and 2? Painful, of course, but not devastating enough to wave the white flag.
But their performance improved mightily in the third game of the matchup, and now Boston has a chance to even the series at 2-2 when it plays Monday night at New York.
“You’ve got to beat us four times. That’s what it comes down to,” said Celtics star Jaylen Brown. “Not twice, not once, not three. You’ve got to win four games, so there’s a lot of basketball to be played.”
The one Boston win came in superlative fashion.
The Celtics led by as many as 31 points and regained their 3-point shooting touch. After being a combined 25 of 100 from behind the arc in the defeats, Boston connected on 20 of 40 in the 115-93 rout.
Jayson Tatum and NBA Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard each made five. Pritchard scored 23 points after averaging just 11 over the first two games.
“Who cares what the outside world is saying,” Pritchard said in reference to some of the chatter about Boston’s propensity for firing away from outside. “‘We shoot too many 3s.’ Everybody’s all saying that, but if you believe in your shot and you’re able to hit it, then take it confidently.”
Tatum added 22 points in a contest in which five Boston players tallied 15 or more.
The Knicks are facing their first adversity of the series after being walloped at home. New York never led and was down 71-46 at halftime.
Knicks star Jalen Brunson scored 27 points, but he wasn’t overly thrilled with his team’s frame of mind.
“I don’t think we came with the mindset of being satisfied, but I think it was just subconsciously satisfied being up 2-0,” Brunson said. “Just not the way we need to approach the game.”
New York knows a Game 4 loss removes the advantage it gained by winning twice in Boston. So, it basically is now must-win territory for the Knicks.
“You have to earn your wins. You have to put the work into winning,” New York coach Tom Thibodeau said Sunday. “We knew coming in that they were going to be coming in with force and we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready for that. And you know — we’ve got to play a strong 48 minutes of basketball.”
Knicks forward Josh Hart said remaining even-keel is important for his club.
“We knew it was gonna be a tough series,” Hart said. “When we win, we’re not too high and when we lose, we’re not too low. We always try to stay even. Make adjustments, but the mentality, the character of the team doesn’t change.”
New York big man Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 15 rebounds in Game 3, but he also injured his left hand. Yet all appears to be well as Towns isn’t listed on the team’s injury report.
Boston listed reserve Sam Hauser (sprained right ankle) as questionable but is otherwise healthy.
Meanwhile, Boston coach Joe Mazzulla isn’t concerned that his team trails in the series.
“There’s no expectations,” Mazzulla said. “We’re on a path of trying to go after greatness. There’s nothing to dictate the test that’s in front of you.”
–Field Level Media
