NEW YORK -- I know Joe Mazzulla pushed back on me asking if the Game 3 win was as easy as making shots, but I can't get past the obvious. The reason why the Celtics protected the ball better and won a lot of the margins was that they were hitting shots and not overreacting to some Knicks runs. If the Celtics had shot poorly in Game 3, I'm willing to bet some of those turnovers would have happened again. But they didn't. The Celtics played with poise and confidence, and it led to easier baskets and 3-pointers falling.
The bottom line for me is simple: Make a normal amount of shots, and this series is a runaway. Part of getting those shots to fall is taking advantage of the defense (and playing some defense of their own). So with that in mind, here are three plays that I loved from Game 3.
The key here is that New York is switching. The Celtics' goal is to get Jaylen Brown in deep position against a favorable matchup. Here's now they did it.
Mikal Bridges is the target. He's covering Derrick White, but will switch onto Brown. Josh Hart is there to take White and provide support in case Tatum drives. The Celtics need to clear the paint, which they do by keeping Payton Pritchard in the corner and by having Horford go up to fake setting a screen for Jayson Tatum.
The fake screen brings Karl-Anthony Towns up to the free-throw line. This play wouldn't work if Towns was in drop coverage because he'd be in the passing lane. Because he's up high, Brown pivots and seals Bridges with no one in the paint. The defense ultimately collapses, but not fast enough.
If Brown wanted, he could have kicked it back out to White for 3.
This play had everything. Off-ball movement, misdirection, paint touch ... this was a very smart play call.
I loved this play for two reasons: Brown's handling of the double team and the good spacing.
The Knicks decide to double the post. We know that when two guys are on one player, someone is always open. In this case, it's Kristaps Porzingis. This wouldn't have worked if it was Luke Kornet. If Kornet was on the floor, he'd actually have to cut to the ball, which would have changed New York's reaction.
Brown did a great job, perfectly accepting the double and drawing it a step further away. He cleared space for himself to make the pass while drawing defenders further away from the play. He was able to get the ball to Porzingis high opposite. Because it's Porzingis, Josh Hart has to worry about him as a 3-point threat.
That decision to run to the ball leaves Pritchard wide open for the shot. Brown did a great job working out of the post multiple times in this game, and it might be something to watch for in Game 4.
I love this because of how the Celtics look to push the ball. But let's start with Porzingis and Tatum making the great defensive play.
Tatum is a little late on switching the pick-and-roll but Porzingis comes over to stop the Bridges drive and force the dump-off.
Tatum makes a very good play to slide over, staying with things and forcing Hart to adjust his shot.
That effort by Tatum is what makes the Porzingis block possible. So often, a player in Tatum's position (and plenty of times Tatum, himself) give up on that play. But Tatum's quick reaction to bother Hart forced him to changes his path and let Porzingis get back into the play.
From there, the best part of the play is that the ball goes from the Knicks free throw line to a layup for Boston in just one dribble. The Celtics need to make this same effort to not just run, but push the ball up the floor more often.
I loved the set play and would love to see more that kind of stuff executed in the right situations. I think that kind of manipulation of the defense can be more effective than just hunting mismatches.
At the same time, the hunting pays off if Boston doesn't force things. Just hunting the mismatch doesn't have to mean scoring on it. It just has to mean creating an advantage. Boston has multiple ways to create those and play off them. Game 3 was some of their best overall basketball of the postseason so far. More of that in Game 4 can send the series back to Boston as a best-of-three.