Celtics discover three-point magic in the Knick of time
Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard have eased concerns for the Boston Celtics, leading a 115-93 rout of the New York Knicks as the defending champions got their first win in the NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Tatum had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Pritchard scored 23 points in Game 3 in New York on Saturday (Sunday AEST) as the visitors reduced their deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
The Celtics went 20-for-40 from three-point range after going just 25-for-100 in their two losses in Boston, when they blew 20-point leads in the second half of both games.
They went ahead by 31 in this one, but there was never anything resembling a comeback for the Knicks.
Tatum, an All-Star who shot just 12-for-42 overall in Boston, and Pritchard, the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, both made five threes.
Jaylen Brown scored 19 points and Derrick White had 17 for the Celtics, who will try to tie the series on Monday night in Game 4, before returning to Boston for Game 5 on Wednesday.
"You've got to beat us four times. That's what it comes down to. Not twice, not once, not three," Brown said. "You've got to win four games, so there's a lot of basketball to be played."
Jalen Brunson scored 27 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks, who blew a 2-0 lead in this round last year and are seeking their first conference finals appearance since 2000.
"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 said. "Just not the way we need to approach the game."
Boston made more three-pointers than any team in NBA history in the regular season, when they swept all four meetings against New York. But the Celtics were ice-cold to open this series, starting with an NBA playoff record 45 misses in Game 1.
They made their first four three-point shots in a blistering start Saturday and never really slowed down. They finished 6-for-7 behind the arc en route to a 36-20 lead.
Tatum and Pritchard hit consecutive threes for a 55-33 lead with four minutes remaining in the half, and Boston took a 71-46 lead to the locker room.
New York were 5-for-25 behind the arc and shot 68.6 per cent on free throws.
In San Francisco, Anthony Edwards hit a baseline three-pointer with 1:19 remaining and scored 36 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors 102-97 for a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.
Edwards' teammate Julius Randle had a triple-double of 24 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds,
For Golden State, Jimmy Butler had 33 points, seven assists and seven rebounds and Jonathan Kuminga scored 30 off the bench, but the Warriors still lacked the kind of rhythm they have with Stephen Curry on the floor.
"Obviously with Steph out there, he demands two to three bodies when he's out there on the floor," Butler said.
"When he's not, there's no room for error. You can't make mistakes. You can't turn the ball over. You can't give back all of those things. And then you've got to take the right shots."
Kuminga shot 11-for-18 as the Warriors again mixed and matched while playing without Curry as he nurses a strained left hamstring he injured in Game 1.
Game 4 is on Monday night (Tuesday AEST) at Chase Center.
Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard have eased concerns for the Boston Celtics, leading a 115-93 rout of the New York Knicks as the defending champions got their first win in the NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Tatum had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Pritchard scored 23 points in Game 3 in New York on Saturday (Sunday AEST) as the visitors reduced their deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
The Celtics went 20-for-40 from three-point range after going just 25-for-100 in their two losses in Boston, when they blew 20-point leads in the second half of both games.
They went ahead by 31 in this one, but there was never anything resembling a comeback for the Knicks.
Tatum, an All-Star who shot just 12-for-42 overall in Boston, and Pritchard, the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, both made five threes.
Jaylen Brown scored 19 points and Derrick White had 17 for the Celtics, who will try to tie the series on Monday night in Game 4, before returning to Boston for Game 5 on Wednesday.
"You've got to beat us four times. That's what it comes down to. Not twice, not once, not three," Brown said. "You've got to win four games, so there's a lot of basketball to be played."
Jalen Brunson scored 27 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks, who blew a 2-0 lead in this round last year and are seeking their first conference finals appearance since 2000.
"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 said. "Just not the way we need to approach the game."
Boston made more three-pointers than any team in NBA history in the regular season, when they swept all four meetings against New York. But the Celtics were ice-cold to open this series, starting with an NBA playoff record 45 misses in Game 1.
They made their first four three-point shots in a blistering start Saturday and never really slowed down. They finished 6-for-7 behind the arc en route to a 36-20 lead.
Tatum and Pritchard hit consecutive threes for a 55-33 lead with four minutes remaining in the half, and Boston took a 71-46 lead to the locker room.
New York were 5-for-25 behind the arc and shot 68.6 per cent on free throws.
In San Francisco, Anthony Edwards hit a baseline three-pointer with 1:19 remaining and scored 36 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors 102-97 for a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.
Edwards' teammate Julius Randle had a triple-double of 24 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds,
For Golden State, Jimmy Butler had 33 points, seven assists and seven rebounds and Jonathan Kuminga scored 30 off the bench, but the Warriors still lacked the kind of rhythm they have with Stephen Curry on the floor.
"Obviously with Steph out there, he demands two to three bodies when he's out there on the floor," Butler said.
"When he's not, there's no room for error. You can't make mistakes. You can't turn the ball over. You can't give back all of those things. And then you've got to take the right shots."
Kuminga shot 11-for-18 as the Warriors again mixed and matched while playing without Curry as he nurses a strained left hamstring he injured in Game 1.
Game 4 is on Monday night (Tuesday AEST) at Chase Center.
Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard have eased concerns for the Boston Celtics, leading a 115-93 rout of the New York Knicks as the defending champions got their first win in the NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Tatum had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Pritchard scored 23 points in Game 3 in New York on Saturday (Sunday AEST) as the visitors reduced their deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
The Celtics went 20-for-40 from three-point range after going just 25-for-100 in their two losses in Boston, when they blew 20-point leads in the second half of both games.
They went ahead by 31 in this one, but there was never anything resembling a comeback for the Knicks.
Tatum, an All-Star who shot just 12-for-42 overall in Boston, and Pritchard, the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, both made five threes.
Jaylen Brown scored 19 points and Derrick White had 17 for the Celtics, who will try to tie the series on Monday night in Game 4, before returning to Boston for Game 5 on Wednesday.
"You've got to beat us four times. That's what it comes down to. Not twice, not once, not three," Brown said. "You've got to win four games, so there's a lot of basketball to be played."
Jalen Brunson scored 27 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks, who blew a 2-0 lead in this round last year and are seeking their first conference finals appearance since 2000.
"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 said. "Just not the way we need to approach the game."
Boston made more three-pointers than any team in NBA history in the regular season, when they swept all four meetings against New York. But the Celtics were ice-cold to open this series, starting with an NBA playoff record 45 misses in Game 1.
They made their first four three-point shots in a blistering start Saturday and never really slowed down. They finished 6-for-7 behind the arc en route to a 36-20 lead.
Tatum and Pritchard hit consecutive threes for a 55-33 lead with four minutes remaining in the half, and Boston took a 71-46 lead to the locker room.
New York were 5-for-25 behind the arc and shot 68.6 per cent on free throws.
In San Francisco, Anthony Edwards hit a baseline three-pointer with 1:19 remaining and scored 36 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors 102-97 for a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.
Edwards' teammate Julius Randle had a triple-double of 24 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds,
For Golden State, Jimmy Butler had 33 points, seven assists and seven rebounds and Jonathan Kuminga scored 30 off the bench, but the Warriors still lacked the kind of rhythm they have with Stephen Curry on the floor.
"Obviously with Steph out there, he demands two to three bodies when he's out there on the floor," Butler said.
"When he's not, there's no room for error. You can't make mistakes. You can't turn the ball over. You can't give back all of those things. And then you've got to take the right shots."
Kuminga shot 11-for-18 as the Warriors again mixed and matched while playing without Curry as he nurses a strained left hamstring he injured in Game 1.
Game 4 is on Monday night (Tuesday AEST) at Chase Center.
Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard have eased concerns for the Boston Celtics, leading a 115-93 rout of the New York Knicks as the defending champions got their first win in the NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Tatum had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Pritchard scored 23 points in Game 3 in New York on Saturday (Sunday AEST) as the visitors reduced their deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
The Celtics went 20-for-40 from three-point range after going just 25-for-100 in their two losses in Boston, when they blew 20-point leads in the second half of both games.
They went ahead by 31 in this one, but there was never anything resembling a comeback for the Knicks.
Tatum, an All-Star who shot just 12-for-42 overall in Boston, and Pritchard, the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, both made five threes.
Jaylen Brown scored 19 points and Derrick White had 17 for the Celtics, who will try to tie the series on Monday night in Game 4, before returning to Boston for Game 5 on Wednesday.
"You've got to beat us four times. That's what it comes down to. Not twice, not once, not three," Brown said. "You've got to win four games, so there's a lot of basketball to be played."
Jalen Brunson scored 27 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks, who blew a 2-0 lead in this round last year and are seeking their first conference finals appearance since 2000.
"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 said. "Just not the way we need to approach the game."
Boston made more three-pointers than any team in NBA history in the regular season, when they swept all four meetings against New York. But the Celtics were ice-cold to open this series, starting with an NBA playoff record 45 misses in Game 1.
They made their first four three-point shots in a blistering start Saturday and never really slowed down. They finished 6-for-7 behind the arc en route to a 36-20 lead.
Tatum and Pritchard hit consecutive threes for a 55-33 lead with four minutes remaining in the half, and Boston took a 71-46 lead to the locker room.
New York were 5-for-25 behind the arc and shot 68.6 per cent on free throws.
In San Francisco, Anthony Edwards hit a baseline three-pointer with 1:19 remaining and scored 36 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors 102-97 for a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.
Edwards' teammate Julius Randle had a triple-double of 24 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds,
For Golden State, Jimmy Butler had 33 points, seven assists and seven rebounds and Jonathan Kuminga scored 30 off the bench, but the Warriors still lacked the kind of rhythm they have with Stephen Curry on the floor.
"Obviously with Steph out there, he demands two to three bodies when he's out there on the floor," Butler said.
"When he's not, there's no room for error. You can't make mistakes. You can't turn the ball over. You can't give back all of those things. And then you've got to take the right shots."
Kuminga shot 11-for-18 as the Warriors again mixed and matched while playing without Curry as he nurses a strained left hamstring he injured in Game 1.
Game 4 is on Monday night (Tuesday AEST) at Chase Center.
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"But just happy to put our match and our names in the history of the grand slams, in the history of Roland Garros. I leave the discussion to the people..." Well, the tennis people were awed. "The level of this whole match was insanity!!!!! What a day to be a fan of this beautiful sport," enthused Australia's main man de Minaur on X as he reflected on a contest between the two men he's played a combined 14 times and not yet managed a win. This was a day to see why. Four-time grand slam champ Jim Courier, commentating on TNT Sport, echoed 'Demon's' incredulity as he said: "It's insane how good this is. Everybody's in disbelief at what they're seeing." "One of the best 5th sets ever alongside Federer vs Nadal '08 Wimbledon + Djok vs Nadal AO 2012," tweeted former US Open champ Marin Cilic. "Unbelievable level." Sergi Bruguera, Spain's two-time French Open champ, told Alcaraz it had been the best match he'd ever witnessed, a view echoed by Greg Rusedski, Britain's former US Open finalist, who declared on BBC radio: "For me, personally, this goes down as the greatest tennis match I've ever seen. "The standard was just exceptional. It's just incredible how hard these guys hit the ball." So incredible indeed that seven-time grand slam single champ John McEnroe, talking on TNT Sport, wondered if the pair might even have eclipsed the king of clay, 14-time Roland Garros champ Rafa Nadal, here. "It was an honour to witness. I've been doing this 30 years, that's one of the all-timers easily," said McEnroe. "You would make a serious argument with both guys that they would be favoured to beat Nadal, at his best. "Do I think they're gonna reach 20, 24 (titles), either one of them? No, because that plateau is so hard - but these two guys right now, it's like when you watch the NBA and you say nobody could be better than Michael Jordan. The tennis level right now is higher than I've ever seen." Three-time Australian Open champ Wilander was left marvelling: "I cannot believe how lucky we are that we are going to have this rivalry as they have taken our sport to another level. "I've seen Federer and Nadal, they played a couple of good finals but nothing comes close to this one to me. "Because the anticipation was so high, especially from my side because I witnessed their matches and I always think that this is not possible, they are playing at a pace that is not human." Alex de Minaur called it "insanity", Andre Agassi shook his head in disbelief from the VIP seats and Mats Wilander felt they were playing at a "not human" level. Other luminaries simply swooned it was the best tennis match they'd ever seen. Indeed, Carlos Alcaraz's 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-2) triumph over Jannik Sinner in the longest and perhaps best of all French Open finals was so astonishing that even the Spanish champ himself was asked where it belonged in the list of the greatest contests the sport had ever witnessed. Modestly suggesting it wasn't as good as the Novak Djokovic-Rafael Nadal Australian Open epic in 2012 - which at five hours 53 minutes was the only final to last longer than Sunday's 5:29 marathon - Alcaraz, who saved three match points before prevailing, said he was just proud it was being mentioned as one of the finest of all. "I don't know if our match is in the same table as them," he said when asked how it compared with Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer's final of 2008 and the Bjorn Borg-John McEnroe 1980 epics, both at Wimbledon. "But just happy to put our match and our names in the history of the grand slams, in the history of Roland Garros. I leave the discussion to the people..." Well, the tennis people were awed. "The level of this whole match was insanity!!!!! What a day to be a fan of this beautiful sport," enthused Australia's main man de Minaur on X as he reflected on a contest between the two men he's played a combined 14 times and not yet managed a win. This was a day to see why. Four-time grand slam champ Jim Courier, commentating on TNT Sport, echoed 'Demon's' incredulity as he said: "It's insane how good this is. Everybody's in disbelief at what they're seeing." "One of the best 5th sets ever alongside Federer vs Nadal '08 Wimbledon + Djok vs Nadal AO 2012," tweeted former US Open champ Marin Cilic. "Unbelievable level." Sergi Bruguera, Spain's two-time French Open champ, told Alcaraz it had been the best match he'd ever witnessed, a view echoed by Greg Rusedski, Britain's former US Open finalist, who declared on BBC radio: "For me, personally, this goes down as the greatest tennis match I've ever seen. "The standard was just exceptional. It's just incredible how hard these guys hit the ball." So incredible indeed that seven-time grand slam single champ John McEnroe, talking on TNT Sport, wondered if the pair might even have eclipsed the king of clay, 14-time Roland Garros champ Rafa Nadal, here. "It was an honour to witness. I've been doing this 30 years, that's one of the all-timers easily," said McEnroe. "You would make a serious argument with both guys that they would be favoured to beat Nadal, at his best. "Do I think they're gonna reach 20, 24 (titles), either one of them? No, because that plateau is so hard - but these two guys right now, it's like when you watch the NBA and you say nobody could be better than Michael Jordan. The tennis level right now is higher than I've ever seen." Three-time Australian Open champ Wilander was left marvelling: "I cannot believe how lucky we are that we are going to have this rivalry as they have taken our sport to another level. "I've seen Federer and Nadal, they played a couple of good finals but nothing comes close to this one to me. "Because the anticipation was so high, especially from my side because I witnessed their matches and I always think that this is not possible, they are playing at a pace that is not human." Alex de Minaur called it "insanity", Andre Agassi shook his head in disbelief from the VIP seats and Mats Wilander felt they were playing at a "not human" level. Other luminaries simply swooned it was the best tennis match they'd ever seen. Indeed, Carlos Alcaraz's 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-2) triumph over Jannik Sinner in the longest and perhaps best of all French Open finals was so astonishing that even the Spanish champ himself was asked where it belonged in the list of the greatest contests the sport had ever witnessed. Modestly suggesting it wasn't as good as the Novak Djokovic-Rafael Nadal Australian Open epic in 2012 - which at five hours 53 minutes was the only final to last longer than Sunday's 5:29 marathon - Alcaraz, who saved three match points before prevailing, said he was just proud it was being mentioned as one of the finest of all. "I don't know if our match is in the same table as them," he said when asked how it compared with Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer's final of 2008 and the Bjorn Borg-John McEnroe 1980 epics, both at Wimbledon. "But just happy to put our match and our names in the history of the grand slams, in the history of Roland Garros. I leave the discussion to the people..." Well, the tennis people were awed. "The level of this whole match was insanity!!!!! What a day to be a fan of this beautiful sport," enthused Australia's main man de Minaur on X as he reflected on a contest between the two men he's played a combined 14 times and not yet managed a win. This was a day to see why. Four-time grand slam champ Jim Courier, commentating on TNT Sport, echoed 'Demon's' incredulity as he said: "It's insane how good this is. Everybody's in disbelief at what they're seeing." "One of the best 5th sets ever alongside Federer vs Nadal '08 Wimbledon + Djok vs Nadal AO 2012," tweeted former US Open champ Marin Cilic. "Unbelievable level." Sergi Bruguera, Spain's two-time French Open champ, told Alcaraz it had been the best match he'd ever witnessed, a view echoed by Greg Rusedski, Britain's former US Open finalist, who declared on BBC radio: "For me, personally, this goes down as the greatest tennis match I've ever seen. "The standard was just exceptional. It's just incredible how hard these guys hit the ball." So incredible indeed that seven-time grand slam single champ John McEnroe, talking on TNT Sport, wondered if the pair might even have eclipsed the king of clay, 14-time Roland Garros champ Rafa Nadal, here. "It was an honour to witness. I've been doing this 30 years, that's one of the all-timers easily," said McEnroe. "You would make a serious argument with both guys that they would be favoured to beat Nadal, at his best. "Do I think they're gonna reach 20, 24 (titles), either one of them? No, because that plateau is so hard - but these two guys right now, it's like when you watch the NBA and you say nobody could be better than Michael Jordan. The tennis level right now is higher than I've ever seen." Three-time Australian Open champ Wilander was left marvelling: "I cannot believe how lucky we are that we are going to have this rivalry as they have taken our sport to another level. "I've seen Federer and Nadal, they played a couple of good finals but nothing comes close to this one to me. "Because the anticipation was so high, especially from my side because I witnessed their matches and I always think that this is not possible, they are playing at a pace that is not human."
