I’d say about 99.9% of the time, that situation is flipped.
For whatever reason, this team likes to do things the hard way.
Game 3 was the “gotta have it” game, and the Celts played like it.
Just like in the MIA series, taking Game 3 is nice, but it is not the goal.
You don’t often get second chances in life, so take advantage.
Jrue wasn’t just great in this game, he was spectacular.
Everything about Jrue’s performance was fantastic.
Finally, he stopped smoking bunny after bunny because it felt like he was much more under control.
That deserves recognition and is exactly what the expectation should be for Holiday.
Yes he’s the 4th/5th offensive option, but he doesn’t need to play like one.
Last night, he was easily the 3rd best Celtic on the floor.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
So how did they respond?
Can we now shut the fuck up about that?
Basically, Tatum needed to be the best player on the court in Game 3, and he was.
It’s a little bizarre.
With Jaylen, what we’re seeing is a leap in his leadership.
He’s had 3 or fewer in 6 of the 8.
Jesus Christ is that awful.
Then Jayson started getting to the rim late, and that was that.
Instead, it was a death blow.
It was the only shot Pritchard made all night, but man was it massive.
- Defense, defense, defense, defense.
To win a title, that is the way.
This isn’t exactly groundbreaking news, but the proof is also in the pudding.
Holding an NBA team to under 100 points in 2024 is impressive no matter who the team is.
Mitchell is going to get his, he’s virtually unstoppable.
But you know who isn’t unstoppable?
It’s no surprise that when the Celts have played defense this postseason, they’ve won.
- A+ game from Joe in this one.
This season has shown us that when the Celts win a 3rd quarter, they almost never lose.
It’s very similar to the Warrior 3rd quarter of death during their dynasty run.
Game 2, the Celts were destroyed in the 3rd, and lost.
Last night they punched first and were assertive, won the quarter 27-21 and the rest was history.
The numbers speak for themselves.
What are we doing?
In a playoff game?
It’s happening in EVERY game of EVERY series.
- Way too many fallaway jumpers for Tatum in the 4th quarter.
The backdown into a fallaway always seems to be short, so let’s switch it up.
You don’t need homerun plays up 23.
You just need high quality looks and execution.
At the same time, the man is 37 years old playing 38 minutes a night.
It’s not even his fault really.
The every-other-day game thing is clearly showing up, as are his high minutes.
You cannot burn Al out, he’s too important with KP injured.
- I am starting to wonder if Derrick White did another JJ Redick podcast.
They survived last night, but it cannot become a habit.
So now we turn the page to tomorrow night’s Game 4.
Sure winning Game 3 was nice, but winning both games is better.
Given that it’s taking place on the road, there’s a good chance that’s what happens.
6 down, 10 to go.
