NEW YORK — The Boston Celtics made a statement on Saturday, beating the New York Knicks 115-93 in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, cutting New York’s series lead to 2-1.
Boston used its deadly 3-point arsenal to silence the Madison Square Garden crowd. The Knicks never led in the game and went away from the things that earned them victories in the first two games in the series.
The Celtics are going to hoist up 3-point shots whether they’re open or not. The Knicks have to guard against it and make Boston try its luck inside.
Here’s a look at the winners and losers of Game 3:
WINNERS
Celtics defense
Boston took control of the game in the first half and continued to pour it on after halftime, ensuring there would be no Knicks comeback. The Celtics led by 25 at the break and pushed the lead to 31 early in the third quarter. New York shot 40% from the field, rarely finding the space to create off the dribble and settling for shots early in the shot clock once it was down double-digits. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said the key to this victory was limiting live-ball turnovers, which in turn cut off the Knicks’ ability to push their fast break.
Payton Pritchard
The NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year showed why he earned that award, scoring a team-high 23 points in the rout. Pritchard hit a career-high 255 3s during the regular season and scored 1,079 points off the bench, making five shots from downtown in Game 3. He added four rebounds and two assists.
LOSERS
Madison Square Garden crowd
Ticket prices for Game 3 were jacked up, but fans were treated to a pitiful performance from their team. The day’s biggest cheers came for Mitchell Robinson (more on that below), former Knicks and celebrities shown on the jumbotron and any timeout entertainment the team concocted to keep the 20,000-strong from falling asleep or leaving early.
Knicks free throw shooting, especially by Mitchell Robinson
In Game 3, the Knicks needed to get points anywhere they could find them, but when they went to the charity stripe, there wasn’t anything free about it.
New York shot 24-for-35 (68.6%) from the free-throw line, and center Mitchell Robinson, a career 52% free-throw shooter, made just four of his game-high 12 attempts. The Celtics proceeded to foul him on almost every possession in the third quarter, even up by more than 30 points. After each made free throw, he received a raucous (and somewhat sarcastic) cheer from the Madison Square Garden crowd. But the crowd went silent when he completely missed the rim on one.
OG Anunoby
There might as well have been an all-points bulletin put out for the Knicks’ starting small forward, as he was miserable for the second straight game, scoring only two points in 31 minutes in Game 3 after scoring five in the Game 2 victory. Anunoby was spectacular in the Game 1 overtime victory with 29 points, but went 1-for-6 from the field on Saturday, and was a game-worst -25 while he was on the floor.