Jalen Brunson admits Knicks might have felt ‘subconsciously satisfied’ after taking 2-0 lead over Celtics
"Just not the way we needed to approach the game."
For the third time in as many games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Celtics were able to get out to a 20-point lead against the Knicks in Game 3. For the first time in the series, they were able to sustain that large margin.
Boston buried New York, 115-93, in Saturday’s Game 3, controlling much of the game to get its first win of the series and silence the noise that had surrounded the team since its Game 2 loss. Unlike the first two games, the Celtics got their first 20-point lead in Game 3 in the first half, holding a 36-20 edge at the end of the first quarter before taking a 25-point lead into halftime.
In fact, the Celtics led the Knicks by double digits for roughly a little more than 40 minutes in Game 3. Their lead never got to less than 20 in the second half.
As the Knicks were thoroughly outplayed from the jump of Game 3 and didn’t make a furious comeback like they did in the first two games, Jalen Brunson admitted that the urgency to win on Saturday might not have been as high as it should’ve been.
“I don’t think we came with the mindset of being satisfied, but I think it was just subconsciously satisfied being up 2-0,” Brunson admitted to reporters. “Just not the way we needed to approach the game.”
New York was never really able to get into any sort of rhythm offensively in Saturday’s game. It shot just 34.8 percent from the field in the first quarter and only made two 3-pointers in the first half, scoring just 46 points in the first 24 minutes of play.
Knicks guard Josh Hart and wing Mikal Bridges echoed Brunson’s sentiments, with each believing that the Celtics’ will to win Game 3 was larger than theirs.
“They were down 2-0 and you knew they were going to come out with a sense of urgency and a sense of desperation,” Hart told reporters about what he saw in the first quarter. “That’s something that we should’ve did a better job with. We knew it was going to happen and we didn’t play with enough energy and physicality from the jump.”
“I think they just came out with more urgency,” Bridges added. “They pretty much came out and set the tone and put us on our heels.”
While the Celtics put up another strong defensive effort in Game 3, they had their best offensive showing in the series on Saturday as well. They made 12 of 19 3-pointers in the first half, finishing the game with 20 makes on 40 attempts from deep. They also shot 48.2 percent from the field, with five players scoring at least 15 points.
The Celtics were able to find that success by attacking Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns in the pick-and-roll. Two of their first three 3-pointers came from doing that, as Towns allowed Celtics shooters to make 8 of 15 3-pointers when he was the primary defender on them.
“It was not what it should have been,” Hart said of the Knicks’ pick-and-roll. “It should have been more physical, more aggressive. We let them get into a rhythm early and feeling good early. That’s something that we can’t do. We made the mistake on that and, like I said, we have to learn from it.”
Saturday’s game looked more reminiscent of the four regular-season matchups between the Celtics and Knicks than the first two games of the series. Boston won all four of those games, holding a 20-point lead in three of them. It’s now recorded a 20-point lead in six of its seven matchups against New York this season.
The Knicks were able to force a comeback in Games 1 and 2 thanks to the Celtics missing shots. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau emphasized that his team needs to get back to forcing the Celtics to do that in Monday’s Game 4 to avoid squandering a 2-0 series lead.
“If you miss shots, you tend to not have the same type of energy,” Thibodeau said. “There’s a lot of different ways you can help win a game. No one is going to shoot great every night. There are going to be nights you don’t shoot it well but do other things to help the team win. That’s basically what we’ve done all year. We have to take a good, hard look at the film and get ready for the next game.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com