In the first game at Madison Square Garden in the second round playoff series between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, the Knicks got absolutely thrashed on their home floor as they dropped their first game of the series Saturday 115-93. New York now holds a 2-1 series advantage.
The Celtics caught fire from 3, and the Knicks couldn’t keep up
The difference in this game is a very simple one: three-point shooting. After shooting 25-for-100 from three in the first two games of the series, Boston caught fire and displayed the lethal three-point shooting they showed all season in Game 3.
Boston shot a blistering 20-for-40 from downtown, having their best shooting game all postseason. In comparison, New York shot just 5-for-25 from outside the arc as their shooting woes this series continued. Payton Pritchard led all Boston scorers with 23 points and he knocked down five three-pointers.
The Knicks also allowed Jayson Tatum to hit five threes as he bounced back after a rough Game 2 in Boston. New York’s three-point defense has been an issue all season long, and after a strong first two games defensively, their effort on that end was lackluster in Game 3.
OG Anunoby had his least impactful game in a very long time, as he scored just two points in 31 minutes and was a team-worst -25. That plus-minus is Anunoby’s lowest in a single game (including playoffs) since joining the Knicks last season.
Mitchell Robinson’s free throw struggles continue to hurt the Knicks
Mitchell Robinson has never been a good free throw shooter in his career, but now it is put on full display thanks to Boston’s strategy to intentionally foul him. Boston sent him to the line 12 times, to which Robinson converted just four of them.
For the second straight game, he airballed a free throw, this time in the first quarter. His free throw struggles are significant as he becomes much harder to put on the court due to the Celtics’ haste to get him off the floor through the charity stripe.
His rebounding and defense was impactful in Game 3, but it became overshadowed by his never-ending struggles at the line. Without him being a reliable free throw shooter, the rebounding and defense become moot as the Knicks are essentially giving possessions away by having him out there for long stretches.
Overview
The Knicks once again got off to a slow start, but unlike Games 1 and 2, they couldn’t mount a comeback to steal another game, as they never led this game. They will need to make major adjustments before Game 4 on Monday, and they will look to bounce back and potentially grab a 3-1 series lead before it heads back to Boston.