Most fans would’ve headed for the exits. Not these fans. Not after what they’d seen.
Their team had already pulled off the impossible twice.
With five minutes left in the fourth quarter of Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, and the Knicks trailing by as many as 30, the crowd stayed locked in. They had watched New York erase back-to-back 20-point deficits in Boston. Maybe there was one more miracle coming.
But by then, it was obvious — to the crowd, the players, and anyone watching:
You can fool a good team once. Maybe even twice. But the third time? You’re begging to get buried.
“[We’re] just not executing enough,” All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns said at his locker after the game. He’d used the word “execute” — or lack thereof — to describe each of the Knicks’ previous 20-point holes. “I know I’m gonna say the word and y’all gonna get tired of hearing me say it, but it’s true: the team that executes the most for the longest duration usually ends up winning in the playoffs.
“We just didn’t execute enough early on, and we gave them confidence.”
The Celtics buried the Knicks beneath a mountain of threes, taking Game 3 in a 115–93 blowout that resuscitated a series many had prematurely declared over. Boston built a double-digit lead in the first quarter, ballooned it to 20 in the second, and pushed it as high as 31 before easing off the gas in the fourth.
“They just kept going, knowing they had a couple of games they lost the lead,” said Mikal Bridges. “Credit to them. They kept fighting and kept playing.”
After blowing back-to-back 20-point leads to a team they swept 4–0 in the regular season, the reigning champs reminded the Knicks — and everyone else — why they’re still favored to win this series.
“Against any NBA team, really, it’s tough for comebacks to happen,” said Jalen Brunson. “Yes, they’re a great team. They have the experience, they’re the defending champs. They have all that. I just don’t think we want to be in a 20-point hole each game. That’s not going to suit us well.”
Now it’s the Knicks who have the work to do. Because for most of this series, Boston has been the better team.
The difference in Games 1 and 2? Collapses that resulted in one-possession wins favoring New York. The Knicks haven’t started games well in any of the three outings — and Saturday’s 36–20 first quarter may have been the most damaging stretch yet.
“This is the best moment you can be in,” said Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, who scored 23 points with five threes off the bench. “Down 2-0, backs against the wall, you just bring it and I think we were all prepared for it. We knew what the task at hand was.”
And yet for the Knicks, it’s the same song that’s played all season: the inability to put together a full 48 minutes. Momentum-swinging runs bailed them out in Games 1 and 2. In Game 3, the hole was too deep. The Celtics didn’t leave the door open.
“That’s who they are. We knew they were going to be tough. I think we might have let human nature get to us a little bit,” said Bridges. “But I think they just came out with more urgency, knowing that they were down. We just got to be better. We have to come out and have more urgency, no matter what the series is. We have to treat every game like it’s 0-0.”
The team that played with fire in Games 1 and 2 got burned in Game 3. And just when it looked like the Knicks had figured out Boston’s three-point shooting, the Celtics lit them up — 20-of-40 from deep — and reminded them what elite, championship-level offensive execution looks like.
“It was really just being more confident in letting it fly. Don’t second-guess a good shot. You come off a ball screen and it’s there, who cares what the outside world is saying?” said Pritchard. “’We shoot too many 3s’. Everyone’s gonna say that. But if you believe in your shot and you’re able to hit it, then take it confidently, so that’s the biggest thing.”
Saturday didn’t teach the Knicks something they didn’t already know. But it made the lesson impossible to ignore: you can’t play from behind forever. Not against any team, but especially not against the champs.
The old adage applies: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Try it a third time, and the trick no longer works. The Knicks, who walked into MSG up 2–0 with a chance to take full control of the series, left Game 3 with momentum slipping away.
Now it’s their turn to respond. Because if they drop Game 4, the series is tied — and all the pressure shifts back to New York.
“They started hitting some shots and just unfortunately, we couldn’t match up with them with their offensive firepower at the time. So they put us in a hole we just never countered, and found ourselves, like usual, getting out of the 20-point hole and finding a way to tie the game and win the game,” said Towns. “I told y’all last time, we can’t afford to keep doing that type of game. We know it’s gonna cost us.”
Originally Published: May 10, 2025 at 6:24 PM EDT
