The Boston Celtics found their 3-point shooting stroke in Game 3, and the New York Knicks couldn’t keep up.
Jayson Tatum led the way with 22 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, while Payton Pritchard added 23 points. The Celtics easily cruised to a 115-93 win over the Knicks, securing their first victory of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Boston, which struggled with its 3-point shooting in the first two games, hit 20 of 40 attempts from beyond the arc in this game. In contrast, the Knicks, who had been up 2-0 in the series, never mounted a serious comeback after Boston built a 31-point lead.
“You’ve got to beat us four times. That’s what it comes down to,” Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. “You’ve got to win four games, so there’s a lot of basketball to be played.”
Tatum, who had been cold in the first two games, and Pritchard, the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, both made five 3-pointers. Brown contributed 19 points, and Derrick White had 17 as the Celtics dominated. Boston will look to tie the series in Game 4 on Monday before returning home for Game 5 on Wednesday.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 27 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points and 15 rebounds. However, the Knicks, who are still looking for their first conference finals appearance since 2000, couldn’t replicate their strong start from earlier in the series.
“I don’t think we came with the mindset of being satisfied, but I think it was just subconsciously satisfied being up 2-0,” Brunson admitted. “Just not the way we need to approach the game.”
The Celtics, who set a regular-season record for most 3-pointers made, were ice cold in the first two games of the series. But in Game 3, they hit their first four 3-pointers, setting the tone early and never slowing down. Boston ended the first quarter with a 36-20 lead, their highest-scoring first quarter of the postseason, while draining six of their first seven 3-point attempts.
Tatum and Pritchard hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second quarter, pushing Boston’s lead to 55-33 with just under five minutes to go in the half. By halftime, the Celtics had a commanding 71-46 lead.
Meanwhile, the Knicks struggled from beyond the arc, making just 5 of 25 attempts. They also shot just 68.6% from the free-throw line, with Mitchell Robinson going 4-for-12, which led the Celtics to intentionally foul him.
