The Boston Celtics showed they wouldn’t easily clean up as the defending champions took one back against the New York Knicks.
After dropping two home games against the New York Knicks, the Boston Celtics paid off their favor and pioneered the series by winning 115-93 at Madison Square Garden.
Jalen Brunson’s 27-point effort was wasted, but the Celtics’ three claims on life and death finally had a great effect.
They shot 3-50% in 40 attempts as the team-wide effort led to victory. Post-match coverage, as expected, was dominated by Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown, but Bill Simmons called ESPN for not mentioning the “great” Celtic star, who was an instrument against the Knicks.
The Celtics’ superstar cores are set in Brown and Tatum, but last season’s championship was down to their role players trying to step up.
Players like Derrick White and Al Horford locked up the guy by making big shots when they were called out, and the result was in the ring at the end of the season.
The Celtics version has returned against the Knicks in Game 3. No player scored more than 30 points, but five players finished in double digits.
Surprisingly, the top scorer was Payton Pritchard. He finally found his range and scored 23 points, shooting 5/10 from 3 points.
After the game he flew under the radar during the reporting of victory.
Simmons said: “I know ESPN didn’t mention it for nearly two hours, but it was a great Pritchard game. We played 18 huge minutes in the first half. They really needed him today.”
Pritchard happened at the perfect time for the Celtics as he could be staring at the barrel.
They lost two away games and had to win to get a chance on the Knicks court, their role coming to the party spelled out the Knicks troubles.
The defending champions have found the grooves at the right time, and the Knicks will know how important Game 4 has become.
Pritchard came at this time, and Al Holford and White also contributed. The Celtics won despite only 41 points from Tatum and Brown.
The Celtics Roll Players are here.