NEW YORK — The NBA world expected the Knicks to be drawing dead before this second round series against the Celtics began. Instead, the Knicks entered Game 3 Saturday night at Madison Square Garden with a stunning 2-0 series lead behind some historically bad shooting and late-game collapses by Boston.
With two days off to regroup, the Celtics knew what was at stake as they tried to dig out of a daunting 2-0 hole away from home. The sense of urgency was increased from the opening tip in the Big Apple as Boston got out in transition early and hit the offensive glass hard.
The Celtics made shots too, which helped quite a bit in a 115-93 blowout win. They went a red-hot 12-of-19 in from 3-point range in the first half on their way to 71 points. Yet, the process of getting these fantastic looks from inside and out (54 percent shooting overall) was seamless early during Game 3 and a lot of that was due to a savvy choice about the team’s offensive process by Joe Mazzulla.
The simple reason why the Knicks shouldn’t have a chance against the Celtics in this series is Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns’ defense. New York needs both of those guys to have a chance offensively against Boston’s firepower, but both are serious defensive liabilities against Boston’s talent.
The Celtics have been good at times in this series, targeting both guys. They got Towns in foul trouble early in Game 1. They went after Jalen Brunson with Jrue Holiday a bunch in Game 2 early on. As those games went on though, the focus waned a little bit. The Celtics settled plenty when facing them in isolation situations, or sometimes just forgot about targeting them entirely (see: final play of Game 2).
That equation changed in the first half of Game 3. Mazzulla does a better job of hunting mismatches relentlessly than most coaches in the NBA, and he did a tremendous job of getting this group to do that in Game 3 early. It was something Jayson Tatum acknowledged when speaking about the win.
“I think one thing, we just tried to be more intentional about our spacing,” Tatum said. “Getting guys in the right spots. We always talk about respecting each others’ space and being intentional about what action we want to be in and who we’re trying to attack, whatever the case may be. I think our spacing was a big part of that.”
Among Boston’s 24 first half field goals, 14 of those came in possessions that directly involved targeting Brunson and Towns. Some of the attacks involved obvious choices like Tatum staying committed to taking wide-open pull-up 3s against Towns drops in a pick-and-roll.
Jayson Tatum 3NBA
Boston also got aggressive against both players off the ball, using their miscues to create wide open looks all over the floor.
Boston especially went after Brunson much more in the post during Game 3. The Knicks readily sent an extra teammate to help Brunson out in those spots, leading to in rhythm catch-and-shoot 3s on the perimeter.
In this sequence, Brown looked for a kickout right away with Boston providing better spacing around him. Porzingis gets the initial pass here, getting Josh Hart to commit to him before sending it to Pritchard for a wide open look. These sequences did not happen as routinely or smoothly in the first two games but an enhanced focus on them had them popping up early and often in Game 3..
Jalen Brunson double team on Jaylen Brown leads to open Pritchard 3NBA.com
Boston also made the extra pass more in these situations, turning down good shots for great ones in drive-and-kick sequences involving the Knicks’ weakest links. Tatum draws a crowd here, sends it to Horford who draws two before sending it to a wide-open Pritchard.
Tatum kickout leads to extra passNBA.com
“We just have to continue to make those right reads, value the basketball, and we didn’t have 11 live-ball turnovers,” Mazzulla said after the win. “That helps a lot when you keep it in between the lines, and we did a good job of our spacing, making the right read.”
This type of offense combined with some terrific offensive rebounding early (14 second chance points on nine offensive rebounds) turned the game into a rout before intermission.
The good news for the Celtics in this series now is the Knicks’ really don’t have a solution when Boston plays with this type of discipline. Outside of two minutes in the second quarter, one of Brunson or Towns was on the floor at all times for the Knicks. They just don’t have enough creators or size to play Boston without either.
The Knicks can try to take away more of the 3-point open looks the duo gave away on the perimeter with more switching, but that leaves them exposed elsewhere.
Ultimately, the Celtics can win this series in a number of different ways, but relentlessly attacking Brunson and Towns is the path of least resistance for this group. Staying disciplined on that front in Game 3 went a long way towards a blowout win, (along with some impressive Payton Pritchard shotmaking in the second half). The work is far from over, but the climb out of 0-2 hole looks a little less daunting after Saturday night.
