NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson turned the ball over on his first touch and missed his first shot. OG Anunoby rimmed-out on his. Karl-Anthony Towns lost the ball to Derrick White out-of-bounds, paused when he saw Al Horford in the lane on the follow-up try before air-mailing a pull-up two. Soon after, he botched a put-back layup. Every miss added to angst for a Madison Square Garden crowd waiting to explode.
They kept waiting. The Knicks have led for just 12 minutes in the series. On Saturday: they didn’t for one second. New York fans only received small pockets to cheer through short-lived New York comeback attempts. One of them came following Mitchell Robinson’s first made free throw after five straight misses as the hacking continued. For the few Celtics fans in attendance, momentarily relief followed. The season isn’t over. They didn’t blow a 30-point lead.
The Celtics’ greatest slip-up, from ahead by 31 points in the third quarter to 20 twice in the fourth, generated answers from Kristaps Porziņģis, with a free throw, and Jayson Tatum, with a three. Two of the Celtics struggling most prior. As Porziņģis continued to write his first full Celtics playoff story through an untimely illness, Tatum penned a familiar chapter by digging himself out of a hole. They prevented the catastrophic offensive droughts that cost them Games 1 and 2. The Celtics won this time, 115-93.
“Just understanding that, this core group, we’ve been through a lot of series together, a lot of games, a lot of moments,” Tatum said. “So just continuing to rely on each other throughout whatever we’re going through.”
Several adjustments carried Boston to its 16-point edge after the first quarter. Payton Pritchard replaced nine Jrue Holiday minutes and finished with 23 points as a primary contributor. Porziņģis stayed involved off the bench. They played faster. Most things remained the same. They limited Jalen Brunson (9-21 FG), shot their open threes and sent Robinson to the free throw line when the Knicks entered the bonus (4-12 FT).
The shot selection discussion posed the greatest threat to the Celtics fracturing internally as many raised doubts about their decision to attempt 60 threes in Game 1. That led to Joe Mazzulla seeing the Celtics passing up looks two nights later. Jaylen Brown expressed a need to get the ball inside more often. But a practice session on Thursday saw the team in greater alignment over the need to be who they are offensively. After a 25-for-100 start from three in the series, they’d go down shooting.
“It was really just being more confident and letting it fly,” Pritchard said after Game 1 when asked how the Celtics maintained their lead. “Don’t second guess a good shot. You come off a ball screen and it’s there, who cares what the outside world is saying. We shoot too many threes, everyone’s saying that, but if you believe in your shot and you’re able to make it, then take it confidently. That’s really the biggest thing.”
The Celtics drained 20-of-40 from deep with their season on the line, recalling legendary nights like Game 6 at Milwaukee in 2022, Game 6 in Philadelphia in 2023 and the start of their 0-3 comeback attempt weeks later in Miami. The Celtics changed how they generated their threes, passing through Jrue Holiday in the pocket, for example. Pritchard broke out and fired on the break later in the first quarter with Derrick White already ahead of him to put back Pritchard’s miss. Tatum hit his first pull-up, but his second make came from a Brown post-up.
Tatum and the Celtics arrived in New York City on Friday night before Tatum and trainer Drew Hanlen went to the gym. The training sessions, which he’s done before big moments for years, don’t focus on reworking or tweaking anything. Tatum simply likes seeing the makes pile up and carrying over into the game. Brown and Tatum finished the first half shooting 50% and combined to shoot 6-for-8 from three. The largest difference.
“It’s a long season,” Tatum said. “You go through stretches where maybe you don’t need to change anything, but you just need to get in the gym and see some shots go in and get your rhythm going. That’s where the confidence stems from, all the work that you put in, the muscle memory and things like that.”
He accepted responsibility for his struggles from the losses in Boston, apologizing for fans who they couldn’t show out for. But winning on the road separates teams, he believed, and this increasingly looks like a team that occasionally lets down at TD Garden and thrives meeting the disdain of opposing fans. And there was plenty. F*** Boston chants filled the concourse. A subway operator let passengers off at Penn Station by saying Knicks in 4. Porziņģis said after Game 2 that the pressure shifted over to the Knicks. And it felt like it.
Joe Mazzulla still coached with urgency. He cut off a 6-0 Knicks run less than four minutes into the third quarter. Holiday posted two plays later and fired a pass to White in the corner for three. Tatum ran for a three-point play on the break, pushing the lead to 27. Horford flushed an alley-oop. Porziņģis played his best basketball by moving the ball. A seal where he turned past Bridges and got fouled into the fourth quarter became his first successful low post scoring move since his Game 1 exit with the illness.
“We didn’t have live ball turnovers and did a good job ending quarters,” Mazzulla said. “The last two minutes of each quarter were much better than they had been in the first two games. Those two things play a huge key against this team and I thought we did that well. (Porziņģis) was better. He gave us some good stuff on both ends of the floor. Rim protection. His screening offensively, we were able to get some good stuff out of that, so I appreciate him keep battling through.”
The night began with little uncertainty over his availability, though he received a prolonged pre-game stretch and massage. Sam Hauser tried to go with his own extensive treatment, but missed a second straight game. Trainers heavily taped both of Brown’s ankles. Porziņģis didn’t totally absolve health concerns while playing five more minutes than he did on Wednesday. But he helped close, all the Celtics needed after a 9-3 Knicks start to the fourth quarter.
One point brought the lead back to 21, but him stepping aside also played a part in Boston’s turnaround. Horford put back a Tatum miss from deep shortly after, the core member of past Celtics playoff runs reunited in the starting unit with Brown and Tatum. They’ve been here before.
When they didn’t make shots, they defended. Porziņģis blocked Towns twice inside late in the fourth quarter. Tatum hit Holiday for three, missed his own and put it back, then delivered one more triple to Horford before the subs took over with two minutes remaining.
“We keep playing basketball,” Brown said. “Obviously, we learn from every experience. I think we do learn from our mistakes from the past game, but that still doesn’t stop us from coming out and playing our style of ball, but we do and are aware of when to get better ones when the momentum isn’t going in our direction. When to get to the basket, get to the paint, etc. We just learn from every game and move forward.”
