Tim BontempsESPN
BOSTON – Once again, the Celtics were found to be beaten by the Golden State Warriors in the third quarter. And as Steven Curry’s three-pointer fell to the basket 3 minutes and 45 seconds before the third quarter of the 3rd game of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night, closing a 10-0 run at Golden State and making the Warriors 83-82, a collective moan was heard from the sold-out crowd inside the TD Garden: Here we go again. Only the Celtics – for the second time in a row – found a way to respond to a punch in the Warriors’ jaw in the third quarter with their own dancer in the fourth, limiting Golden State to just 11 points in the fourth quarter. Boston won 116-100, giving the C a 2-1 lead. “I felt our team was really ready at the moment,” said Celtics center Al Horford. “As you know, earlier in the year, this could have gone south quickly. “But we stayed right and we just locked up and we didn’t panic and we just kept playing.” 2 About According to Horford, Boston was not a team capable of doing that all season. But since the Celtics launched their campaign for good in late January, they have proven to be incredibly resilient. Wednesday’s win in Game 3 saw Boston improve 7-0 in those playoffs after a loss as the Celtics have not lost a game in a row this season. Since January 23, the Celtics have gone 13-1 in games after a defeat. “I think it was kind of when we turned our season around, when we turned that corner,” said Boston striker Jayson Tatum. “Earlier in the season, we would have given up the lead and lost games like that, but now – things are happening, right. They are a great team. They have great players. They will shoot. I will keep running. “We did not keep our heads down or anything. We time-outs, we regrouped, we understood that and we played victorious games. I was definitely proud of the team for that.” The Celtics had to do this because, once again, they failed to gain any traction in the third quarter. Golden State has now beaten Boston by 43 points in three-thirds of the time in this series, as the Warriors have repeatedly been able to turn the Celtics into knots of defense. This, of course, leads Stephen Curry, who finished with 31 points in 12-for-22 shots in 37 minutes. He also created a seven-point lead in the third quarter, hitting a 3, while receiving a glaring foul from Horford, allowing Curry to then hit the free kick, followed by Otto Porter Jr. to tear down others 3. A minute later, a Curry 3 hoisted Golden State – and put Boston back on its heels. But instead of collapsing, the Celtics responded. They took a 11-6 run in the last minutes of the third quarter to regain the lead in the fourth. From there, the Celtics outscored Golden State 23-11, keeping the Warriors in just one basket in the first three minutes as Boston made a quick 9-2 run to increase their lead to double digits. “For me, he was just ready,” said Celtics guard Marcus Smart. “Just stay calm. We have been here in the past. They are a very good team. They will run, but so will we. We just have to put our feet up and keep running.” It helped that Boston had Robert Williams III patrol the paint. While Tatum, Smart and Jalen Brown scored more than 20 points, five rebounds and five assists – they became the first three teammates to achieve this feat in an NBA Finals game since Magic Johnson, Karim Abdul Jabbar and Michael Cooper. for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Celtics in 1984 – it was Williams who was the team’s best co-21 in 25 minutes, finishing with eight points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and a mountain of fuss. “The game is changing,” Horford said of Williams. “Rob is really a man who changes the game. We are very lucky to have such a guy who influences victory the way he does, because he is beyond numbers with him. He is all he brings when he is in I was so impressed with Rob, only his ability to keep improving and learning. “He learns. We talk to him, I feel we can ask him a lot and he always takes it in, understands it and it gets better. But his things go beyond the box score, the impact he has on the game.” Williams has seen the impact range from game to game in these playoffs as he has had problems with his left knee for more than two months. He underwent surgery on his meniscus in that knee in late March, which knocked him out for the end of regular season and the start of the Boston First Round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets. He then suffered bruises on the same knee in the Boston Round 2 series against the Milwaukee Bucks, losing the last three games in that series as well as Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. Since then, Williams has been questionable in every game – only to clear up the hours before the update. “It was rough,” Williams said of managing his knee. “I throw everything at him. It ‘s usually more painful the next day of the race, obviously the adrenaline drops. But we did a few different things today, we got on the bike a little earlier before the game. I took advantage of that.” It was clear that he was feeling well. Williams was everywhere on the floor, often looking for loose balls, flying all over the lane to compete for shots, and was firmly in the center of the action. “I’m constantly talking to Rob, about the simple fact that I know what ‘s going on,” Smart said. “It hurts, and even though he’m hurt, he still wants to go out and help his team. But at the same time, he ‘s thinking about his career. Like I just told him,’ You know your body. You know what you can handle and what not. But you know, we have the opportunity to do something special. There is no guarantee that we will return here. If you can go, we will get 20 percent of you better than none of you. “He realized that and decided to go out there to put on his big pants and suck it up and go crazy.” The Celtics spent the three days between their ugly defeat in Game 2 and Game 3 talking about the need to play with more energy and effort. This message was evident from the original tip, as Boston immediately set the tone with its physical play at both ends. Boston won the rebound battle by 16, including 15 offensive rebounds, and did not allow Golden State to speed things up, making just 12 reversals – including only one in the fourth quarter. As a result, Boston is now two wins away from a league. And after recovering from a defeat – as well as a blow to the body by the Warriors during the game itself – the Celtics now have to do what they often did not do in these playoffs: respond so to a victory. “Another bounce from us,” said Celtics coach Ime Udoka. “My message to the team was: ‘We did this after defeats, let’s respond in the right way after a win now.’
