After the Boston Celtics’ Game 3 win over the New York Knicks, Jaylen Brown made sure to send a message when asked about how his squad dealt with criticism and outside news after two crushing losses. “Yeah, you gotta beat us four times,” Brown said via Noa Dalzell of SB Nation. “That’s what it comes down to. Not twice, not once, not three—you gotta win four games. So, there’s a lot of basketball to be played.”
Heading into the series, the Celtics were overwhelming favorites. They had dominated their regular-season matchup against the Knicks, winning all four games. Yet when it came time for the playoffs, New York stood tall. Boston lost the first two contests.
And it happened in heartbreaking fashion.
Two 20-point leads. Two 20-point comebacks for the Knicks, highlighted by bad transition defense, getting lost off the ball, and a complete offensive collapse in the closing moments of both games.
How did the Celtics win Game 3?
Game 3 started similarly. The Celtics went up big early on. But the lead kept growing. New York went on a few runs, but Boston always answered. Even when the points stopped flowing in the fourth quarter, they still managed to fend off the Knicks.
The Celtics shot 50.0% from three (much improved from the 25.0% they shot in the previous two games combined), and they did all the little things needed when the cold spells hit.
Even Joe Mazzulla was on high alert, as when New York made small runs to cut into the Celtics’ lead at various points in the game, he was not shy about using his timeouts.
Celtics reminded the NBA what they're made of
Last season, when the Celtics cruised to a championship, there weren’t many quality opponents standing in their way. At least, not ones that were fully healthy. Jimmy Butler was out in the first round, and Donovan Mitchell missed time in the second round. Boston didn’t have to face any adversity.
Fast forward to Saturday morning, the Celtics down 2-0, Brown knew they had to remind the rest of the NBA about who they are at their core. The last time the Celtics were down 0-2 in a series was the 2023 Eastern Conference finals, which Boston lost in seven games.
This time around, they responded to a 0-2 deficit with a massive victory. Brown and the Celtics displayed the resilience of a championship-level team, and they don’t plan on backing down anytime soon.
Boston is still down 1-2 in the series, but there’s still a lot more basketball to be played.