By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Boston Celtics quickly moved on after failing to protect home court and pulled off a wire-to-wire victory over the New York Knicks on the road, 115-93, in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference best-of-seven semifinal playoff series on May 11, 2025.
Entering Game 3 with a sense of urgency, the NBA defending champions shrugged off back-to-back meltdowns and finally executed their game plan down the stretch in front of a hostile Madison Square Garden to trim their series deficit to 1-2.
Boston ran its signature high-octane offensive sets, which allowed them to take full control of the ball game after the opening frame.
Boosted by the early aggression of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics went off to the races and established a commanding 16-point lead heading into the second quarter.
Game 3 was a repeated rolling tape film of the first two games, as the Celtics jumped quickly in the driver’s seat while capitalizing on the Knicks’ shooting woes.
However, Boston wouldn’t let the storyline in the second half happen again, as they took care of the ball better and generated most of their attempts from their three-swing pass motion.
Unlike the first two games, where they settled for a high volume of three-point attempts in the fourth, the Celtics shifted gears in the must-win Game 3 and put their head down whenever they saw an open lane to the basket.
Their continuous pressure around the rim put New York in early foul trouble, a completely different scenario in the first two games where they had limited driving attempts.
One of the biggest spark plugs during Boston’s win was Payton Pritchard, the newly-crowned NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
Pritchard’s offensive prowess as the leader of the second unit helped Boston protect their lead, dropping 23 points built from an efficient 8/16 shooting from the field alongside four rebounds and two assists.
The savvy scoring machine sustained what Tatum, Brown, Al Horford, and Derrick White started as he answered every basket that Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony-Towns produced, especially in the first four minutes of the second frame when they spent most of their time on the bench.
Despite an inefficient shooting performance, Tatum still delivered an all-around stat-line of 22 markers, nine boards, seven dimes, and two steals. Brown, who kicked off the first canto with a barrage of haymakers, ended up with 19 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
On the other hand, the duo of Brunson and Towns combined for 48 points, but one of their reliable two-way scorers, OG Anunoby, only gave a deuce, his worst offensive performance in the ongoing NBA Playoffs.
Can the Celtics score another road win to even the East semis series at 2-2? Or will Brunson and the Knicks bounce back and push the defending champs on the brink of elimination?
