Celtics win game 3 of NBA Finals at home, take 2-1 series lead

BOSTON — The Celtics take game three of the NBA Finals, winning 116 to 100 in front of the home crowd. The C’s now lead the series 2-1 which is a good place to be sitting as they get ready for game four. A win is always good, but in the NBA Finals when a team leads the series 2 to 1, they have an 82% chance of winning the series. But players are taking it one game at a time, and they knew they had to play better than they did in game two, and they did.

After letting Draymond Green have his way with the Celtics, the team made sure they stepped to his level of physical play. Green was quiet and didn’t make an impact, and instead, it was an all-around team effort that helped the Celtics blow past the Warriors.

The C’s took a commanding lead from the start, going up by double digits. But in typical Golden State fashion, Steph Curry and the Warriors had a strong third quarter and took the lead. But in the fourth, the Celtics fought back---and never looked back. After the game, Marcus Smart talked about turning it around and getting more physical after their game two loss.

“For us, that left a bad taste in our mouth because what we hang our hat on is an effort on the defensive end and being a physical team,” said Smart. “It definitely woke us up a little bit. We just wanted to come out, and if we were going to come out here and play, the last thing when we left that court we didn’t want to say we weren’t physical enough. It worked out for us.”

Curry seemed to suffer a late-game foot injury, but he says he’s going to be alright for game four. The Celtics are hoping to roll with their momentum and feed off the home crowd again Friday night. The players talked about how important it was to get a win in front of the fans because in this playoff run, they haven’t been the best at home.

“It just felt great,” said Jayson Tatum. “Felt like it’s been a while since we’ve played in this building. So happy to get a win in front of the crowd. They’ve been so great for us throughout the playoffs and all season and throughout my career. It was great to get a win for them. We’re going to need them on Friday, as well.”

“We’ve just got to come out and play basketball, whether it’s in Boston, whether it’s in San Francisco or Alaska. It doesn’t matter. We’ve just got to come out and play the right way.”

The Celtics are a far cry from where they were in January when they were the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference. Now they are just two wins away from winning the NBA Finals.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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