(Courtesy: Jesse D. Garrabrant: NBAE-Getty Images)
New York – The fat lady is warming up. The Celtics cruised past the Knicks 113-96 last night at Madison Square Garden on the strength of Rajon Rondo’s triple-double and Paul Pierce’s 38 points to take a commanding 3-0 series lead over New York.
New York fans were charged up about the Knicks hosting its first home playoff game in 7 years, waiving their orange towels and turning the Garden into a spectacle rather than a game. The crazy atmosphere clearly didn’t affect the Celtics who were focused on the win.
“This is not entertainment, this is competition. I thought we came in here to compete and play team basketball, and I thought everyone did that”, said Head Coach Doc Rivers.
Boston quieted the New York crowd quickly with a 9-0 run to start the game and led 52-44 at halftime. They did what championship teams do-not let the fans into the game. In fact, the halftime lead would’ve been larger if it weren’t for Boston’s 14 first-half turnovers, which allowed the Knicks to stay within striking distance.
The Celtics clamped down on defense in the 3rd quarter and outscored the Knicks 34-19 taking a strangle-hold on the game. After giving up 42 points to Carmello Anthony in game 2, the Celts held the Knick forward to just 15 points on 4 of 16 shooting. Ray Allen scored 10 of his 32 points in the quarter and Pierce added 8 of his own.
What can you say about Rajon Rondo? He is the future of this franchise. All he did last night was score 18 points, collect 11 rebounds, and dish out 20 assists. The 20 assists are a Celtics playoff record. The triple-double was the 7th in his postseason career. The great ones always get it done when it counts the most. The best is yet to come with Rondo.
Overall, the Celtics out-shot New York 50.6% to 43.4% from the field and drained 58.3% from 3-point land, thanks to Allen who shot 8 of 11 from behind the arc. Knick forward Amare Stoudemire who missed game 2 with back pain was a non-factor with just 7 points.
When asked about a game 4 prediction, NBA analyst Dennis Scott started dusting off the anchor desk. I agree. The Knicks are on their way up, but the Celtics have the chemistry and experience to close out the series on Sunday in New York.
When asked about Sunday, Ray Allen shrugged his shoulders and said, “You know you’re in a hostile environment. But we’ve been in this situation before.”
Boston appears to be on a collision course with the Miami Heat who go for a series sweep over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. The Celtics handled the Heat well during the regular season and probably should have swept the season series. Miami blew out Boston 100-77 in an otherwise meaningless game on April 10.
Nathan Sumner is a Staff Writer for Fan Huddle.com.
