Preview: Celtics Look To Tie Series vs Nets With Full House at TD Garden
Photo by Adam Glanzman | Getty Images
The Celtics bounced back in Game 3, earning a 125-119 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at TD Garden. The two teams face off in Game 4 tonight, with over triple the amount of fans in the building as there were in Game 3.
HOW TO WATCH
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Mass.
Time: 7:00 p.m. (EST)
Channel(s): TNT
INJURIES
Jeff Green remains out for the Nets as he deals with a strained plantar fascia. According to the team, he will be re-evaluated in a little over a week.
Boston’s injury report grew larger after the last game. Alongside Jaylen Brown, both Kemba Walker and Robert Williams are listed on the injury report. Walker continues to deal with a left knee medial bone bruise and is listed as questionable. Meanwhile, Williams left Game 3 after suffering a sprained ankle and did not return. The center is doubtful to play in tonight’s contest.
PLAYER STATS
Kevin Durant and James Harden both put on a show in Game 3. The duo combined to score 80 of the team’s 119 points on 24-42 (57.1%) shooting from the field. Harden filled up the stat sheet, adding seven rebounds and 10 assists to his totals as well.
Kyrie Irving scored 16 points of his own, but could not find a rhythm all throughout the game. He shot 6-16 (35.3%) from the field and 2-6 (33.3%) from deep. While he denied that the crowd got in his head in his postgame interview, he was met with loud boos every time he touched the ball.
As for the rest of Brooklyn, no one else contributed much. Joe Harris finished fourth on the team in scoring, but only had eight points in the game. Outside of the big three, Brooklyn shot 8-25 (32.0%) from the field and 3-11 (27.3%) from three. With Green missing serious time, the Nets struggled to find production from their deeper rotational players.
For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum stole the show. He scored 50 points, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out seven dimes in Game 3. After being unable to find a rhythm throughout the first two games, the two-time All-Star finally came to life on Friday night. Tatum has now scored 50 points in each of his last two performances at TD Garden.
Boston got solid contributions from Marcus Smart, Evan Fournier, and Tristan Thompson as well. Smart ended the night with 23 points and six assists, Fournier finished with 17 points and five rebounds, and Thompson notched a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double. Both Smart and Fournier shot above 50% from the field and from deep. Although it won’t show up in the stats, Romeo Langford and Grant Williams both put in solid shifts, too.
Kemba Walker once again struggled to get things going. He only managed to scrape together six points on 3-14 (21.4%) shooting from the field. This included an 0-7 performance from three-point range. He did manage to snag eight rebounds, including a clutch one near the end of the game, however.
TEAM STATS
The Nets put up 119 points, and despite the loss, remained fairly efficient on the offensive end. They shot 38-84 (45.2%) from the field and 16-38 (42.21%) from deep as a team. The issue with these stats, however, is that the majority of that production came from Durant and Harden alone. Factoring out those two players, Brooklyn shot 14-42 (33.3%) from the field and 5-17 (29.4%) from three.
As evidenced by Tatum’s monster night, the Nets struggled on the defensive end of the floor. Boston put up 125 points, nearly 25 points more than what they averaged through the first two games (110.5 PPG). The Nets only contested nine of Boston’s 39 three-point attempts and left them wide open on 19 of them.
Boston’s offensive finally clicked in Game 3. Though the Nets’ defense tailed off a bit, Boston deserves credit for attacking their weaknesses. Brooklyn decided to switch everything against Tatum, meaning Irving and Bruce Brown ended up guarding Tatum on a lot of possessions. Every time that matchup occurred, Boston made sure to take full advantage of it.
The Celtics’ defense did not dominate as much as their offense did. Boston still left Brooklyn open or wide open on 30 of their 38 three-point looks. However, the Celtics did earn an advantage with their two-point defense. They contested 37 of the Nets’ 46 two-point looks and held them to only 47.8% shooting on two-pointers. For reference, the Nets shot 67.5% and 72.5% from two-point range in Games 1 and 2, respectively.
SUMMARY
The Celtics’ embraced the energy of 5,000 fans in Game 3 and walked away with a crucial win. With the series sitting at 2-1 in favor of the Nets, tonight’s game acts as a major turning point. If the Celtics can come away with a win, the series is tied at 2-2, but a loss sends them down 3-1, a tough hole to climb out of. The upside of tonight’s game, however, is that instead of 5,000 Boston faithful cheering them on, they’ll have over 17,000.
Brooklyn will certainly make plenty of adjustments ahead of Game 4 after their sloppy defense allowed Jayson Tatum to dominate in the manner that he did. Tatum’s energy in Game 3 acted as the driving force behind Boston’s gutsy win. If he can reproduce that same success, and the Celtics get even an average night from Walker, Boston could have a real chance to steal another game tonight.
PREGAME SHOW
Make sure to tune in to our live pregame show, “The Banner Town Build Up.” We go live 30 minutes before every Celtics game @GuyBostonSports on YouTube and Facebook. See you there at 6:30 p.m. (EST) tonight!
