Boston Celtics weather Golden State Warriors storm, take 2-1 Finals lead

Boston fans celebrate after the Celtics victory in game three of the NBA playoffs against the Golden State Warriors outside TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on June 8, 2022, Boston Celtics weather Golden State Warriors storm, take 2-1 Finals lead. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

Clearly, the Boston Celtics are allergic to coming out of halftime, yet they buckled down with one quarter left in the game and got the last laugh.

After weathering another third-quarter barrage by the Golden State Warriors, the Men in Green held the visitors to 11 points in the final 12 minutes to secure a 116-100 win and take a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals.

If that’s not the most jarring stat, then how about this? The Warriors had excellent performances from Stephen Curry (31 points) and Klay Thompson (25 points) but were ultimately done in by inefficiency and costly turnovers.

Also, the talker, Draymond Green, once again registered a triple-single. But what took place in the rowdy Green and White crowd appears to be more important to the Warriors. That’s another subject to deal with, though.

Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum finished with 26 points, Jaylen Brown scored 27, and Marcus Smart recorded 24. It should be worth noting that those three are the first trio to each have 20 points, five assists, and five rebounds in a Finals game since 1984 (Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Cooper).

Boston Celtics unleash ruthless performance on and off the court in Game 3 win over Golden State Warriors

The stars showed out for Boston, and several notable figures were in attendance, including former Celtics, notable Bostonians, Bill Belichick, and a few of his New England Patriots. It must have felt good for the visiting gridiron folks to be back in a Boston setting for a playoff/postseason game, considering the last one they played in was a hostile road spot.

Speaking of hostile, or if you want to call it that, some of the Warriors took issue with the chants directed towards Green, as did Green’s wife.

There’s no doubt that this will fire them up for Game 4, but will their team respond? The odds may not favor it, and pundits still predict the Warriors to win this series. So, in retrospect, Golden State will likely get to laugh on Friday night. Still, Boston may have something to say about that.

We just saw how ruthless TD Garden is. The Chase Center is passionate, but the Garden brings it themselves. Let’s see how this all plays out, and maybe, just maybe, we get a chance to see what team is in the driver’s seat instead of being prisoners of the moment.

Game 4 of the 2022 NBA Finals is set for Friday, June 10 at 9 EST. Boston leads the series 2-1.