Most fans would have headed for the exits. Not these fans. Not after what they’d seen.
Their team had already pulled off the impossible twice.
There were still five minutes left in the fourth quarter of Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, and despite trailing by 30, the Knicks faithful stayed locked in. They’d watched their team erase back-to-back 20-point deficits to steal Games 1 and 2 in Boston. Maybe there was one more miracle left.
But by then, it was clear — to the crowd, to the players, to anyone watching:
You can fool a good team once. Maybe even twice. Try the same act a third time, and you’re begging to get buried.
The Celtics buried the Knicks beneath a mountain of threes and a restored sense of purpose. Boston stormed into MSG and took Game 3 with authority, punching out a 115-93 win that resuscitated a series many had prematurely declared dead.
After coughing up 20-point leads in consecutive losses to a team they swept 4–0 during the regular season, the reigning champs reminded everyone — especially the Knicks — why they’re still the favorites to win this series outright.
And the Knicks? They reminded everyone what we already knew from the first two games: when the Celtics don’t implode, they’ve looked like the far better team.
Eighty-six percent of teams who take a 2-0 lead in a playoff series advance to the next round. The Knicks are now dangerously flirting with the other 14%. Because Saturday made one thing certain — this series is very much alive.
Home-court issues persist. The Knicks dropped two games to Detroit at MSG in Round 1 and just gave away the opener of their second-round home stand. Game 3 ticket prices soared over $600 — and fans who paid that price watched their team deliver a dud.
This time, there would be no rally. No heroic comeback. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla’s biggest adjustment might’ve been his timeouts. Anytime New York began to show signs of life, he stopped the bleeding immediately.
That’s what the Knicks haven’t figured out. Through three games, their biggest problem has been consistency. For long stretches, they look outclassed. Then, in short bursts, they look like they belong on this stage. Saturday, those bursts were rare.
Boston outscored the Knicks 36–20 in the first quarter. They won every frame except the fourth — and the Knicks only won that by four.
This is the same issue the Knicks have dealt with all season: incomplete basketball. You can’t beat elite teams with a quarter and a half of good play. They stole Games 1 and 2 by delivering their best in short windows. That magic ran out.
Saturday was proof. You can’t keep playing from behind. The Celtics saw the same act coming and cut it off at the source.
Now the Knicks, still up 2–1, no longer feel in control. Boston has reclaimed the edge — the dominance and confidence they ceded in Games 1 and 2.
Now it’s the Knicks who have to respond. Because if they lose both at home, this becomes a best-of-three with the momentum squarely back in the Celtics’ corner.
On Saturday, the defending champs took New York’s best shot — and punched back harder.
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Jayson Tatum arrived to Madison Square Garden wearing a pair of Timberland boots. And in the first half of Game 3, he stomped into New York’s defensive game plan, one three-pointer at a time. Tatum, who couldn’t find any rhythm against OG Anunoby through the first two games, shot four-of-five from three-point range through the first two quarters. He finished with 22 points on 5-of-9 shooting from downtown.
He was hardly the biggest issue for the Knicks on Saturday.
Payton Pritchard came off the bench and hung 23 points on 50% shooting against a Knicks team that got 19 total points from its second unit.
The Knicks had the NBA’s lowest-scoring bench through the regular season. The difference is showing itself in the playoffs.
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