The Knicks erased back-to-back 20-point deficits to stun the Boston Celtics in Video games 1 and a couple of. Recreation 3 was one thing else solely.
The Celtics didn’t simply shield a 20-point lead — they expanded it, pushing their benefit to as many as 31 factors en path to their first win of the Japanese Convention semifinals on Saturday. For the Knicks, it was a actuality test. The identical crew that hadn’t overwhelmed Boston all season pulled off two upsets to take a 2-0 lead, solely to be humbled on their residence flooring because the reigning champs struck again at Madison Sq. Backyard.
Boston will now look to construct on that momentum in Recreation 4 on Monday evening. The Knicks, in the meantime, try to maintain the loss in perspective.
“[The mood] was good,” stated beginning ahead Josh Hart after apply on the crew’s Tarrytown facility on Sunday. “We knew it was gonna be a tough series. When we win, we’re not too high and when we’re low, we’re not too low. We always try to stay even. Make adjustments, but the mentality, the character of the team doesn’t change.”
If the Knicks are going to shut the door on this collection, they’ll have to confront the identical habits that haunted them in the course of the common season and first spherical. Inconsistency. Flat begins. Defensive lapses. The identical dangerous habits that reappeared in a lopsided Recreation 3 loss.
They’ve struggled to string collectively full, 48-minute performances. They’ve fallen behind early, significantly in first and third quarters. And whereas they’ve usually rallied late — counting on grit and shot-making to claw again — that components may fit towards the Pistons. It received’t towards the defending champs.
“You have to earn your wins. You have to put the work into winning,” head coach Tom Thibodeau stated Sunday. “We knew coming in [that] they were going to be coming in with force, and we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready for that. And you know — we’ve got to play a strong 48 minutes of basketball.”
The Knicks received away with poor three-point protection in Video games 1 and a couple of as a result of Boston shot simply 25-of-100 from downtown. Saturday was a full regression to the imply — a 20-of-40 efficiency from deep, with the Celtics hitting six of their first seven from three within the opening quarter alone.
“That probably gave them confidence early,” stated Thibodeau. “The one thing that you can’t be is you can’t be indecisive against them because of the five-out [offense with five shooters on the floor].”
In Video games 1 and a couple of, the Knicks scrambled onerous to contest. They had been bodily, determined, related. That urgency vanished in Recreation 3. Up 2-0, at residence, the three-point protection collapsed — and the crew that led the league in threes in the course of the common season walked into open appears all sport.
“We didn’t make them miss. Last game they had — especially to start the game — easy catch-and-shoots, easy walk-in 3s,” stated Hart. “So we’ve gotta be extra aggressive on the level of contact and we gotta pressure them into more durable pictures.
“They’re good shooters. We knew they weren’t gonna shoot whatever they were shooting before. We knew they were gonna have a good shooting game at some point. The biggest thing is we let them start the game in such a rhythm. Especially with any NBA team in general, but when you have a team with that many shooters, when you let them get confident, it’s tough to stop.”
Boston’s offensive rebounding didn’t assist. Thibodeau pointed to a number of unfastened balls that was second-chance threes.
“When [a three] is shot, you have to get to bodies and make sure you’re not giving them a second or third crack at it,” he stated. “And then, there were four or five loose balls they were able to get that turned into threes for them. We have to understand how important that is.”
The issue is each effort and identification. The Knicks ranked useless final in opponent three-point proportion in the course of the common season — and it’s caught as much as them once more. They’ve now been outscored by a mixed 29 factors within the first quarters of all three video games. The 36–20 opening deficit in Recreation 3 snowballed right into a blowout earlier than halftime.
“We have to come out at the start of the game with a sense of urgency. That’s something that we didn’t do,” stated Hart. “We gotta give them credit – they’re the defending champions. We knew they weren’t just gonna lay down and let us win four in a row and go on our merry way. We knew that wasn’t gonna happen. Now it’s time to watch film, go through our adjustments and come out tomorrow with energy and physicality.”
It’s not nearly protection. The Knicks shot 8-of-23 within the first quarter. Missed pictures grew to become transition gasoline for the Celtics — and a missed open three is commonly the primary domino in a 6-0 run.
“We missed some shots early and we got back on our heels, and that hurt us some,” stated Thibodeau. “Then, we missed some wide open shots, and you gotta make shots.”
The Knicks nonetheless lead the collection. However the edge is slipping.
If Boston takes Recreation 4, the collection turns into a best-of-three with two video games again at TD Backyard. The Knicks received twice in Boston already — however they will’t depend on one other 20-point comeback, they usually can’t depend on the basketball gods bailing them out.
As a result of if the Celtics return residence having stolen again the 2 video games they gave away, the collection resets — and the strain shifts solely.
“The playoffs are going to challenge you in a lot of different ways. You can get knocked down. You got to get back up. Got to keep fighting,” stated Thibodeau. “Emotionally the playoffs are roller coaster. There are gonna be highs. There are gonna be lows. You stick together no matter what, and you keep fighting. That’s what it comes down to.”
