It was the performances of Jaylen Brown, who scored 27 points (17 of them in the first quarter), and Jayson Tatum, who added 26 but only 3-9 of three, which closed the victory of the Celtics.
Robert Williams had fought during the first two games of this series. But his surgically repaired knee did not appear to bother him on Wednesday night. He added 8 points, but really scored with his 10 rebounds (seven defensively) and four blocks, and the Celtics scored 52 points in the paint.
The Celtics did not let Golden State resident Draymond Green get under his skin this time. Green scored just two points and when it took 4:07 to play the fourth, the TD Garden crowd couldn’t have been happier to see him leave.
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Stephen Curry led all scorers with 31 points in a 12-22 shot. Klay Thompson had his best game in the series so far, scoring 25, 7 of them in 13 three-point attempts (the highest of any player).
It was the first NBA Finals game in the Garden since 2010. Game 4 returns here Friday.
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Observations by Adam Himmelsbach – 11:50 p.m.
By Adam Himmelsbach
After spending the last two days hearing questions about whether they were able to match the Warriors’ physique and toughness, the Celtics took the floor in the third game of the NBA Finals and proved that they would not be pushed. Not at home. Not in this scenario. Not tonight.
Chasing offensive rebounds as if they were a dinner party and attacking the edge with determined and focused impulses, the Celtics set the tone with their aggressiveness and never stopped, getting a 116-100 victory at TD Garden that give a 2-1 lead in the series. Match 4 will be played at TD Garden on Friday night.
Jaylen Brown scored two of her 17 points in the first quarter. Jim Davis / Globe Staff
Jaylen Brown had 27 points and nine rebounds, Jayson Tatum had 26 points and nine assists, and Marcus Smart added 24 points and seven rebounds for Boston. The Celtics swallowed 15 offensive rebounds, scored 22 second-chance points and maintained a 52-26 lead on points in the paint.
The Celtics led by 18 points in the first half, but the third quarter was again their skill as the Warriors roared again and took an 83-82 lead with a 3-pointer from Curry: 45 of the end. But the Golden State lead vanished 33 seconds later when Smart punched a triple and Boston was no longer ahead.
Read Himmelsbach’s comments on the game.
Victory for the Celtics – 23:33
Van 2-1.
Backups are at 11:29 p.m.
Sighting Aaron Nesmith! They are 116-100 with 2:00 to play.
From Alex Speier: The Celtics are outscoring the Warriors, 56-36, with just over 2 minutes left. In the history of the NBA Finals, teams are 20-1 when they knock down at least 20 more boards than their opponents.
Draymond Green misses and TD Garden loses – 23:25
Draymond Green fouled with 4:07 to play in a play with Marcus Smart. He was unhappy with this and made it clear to officials. But the TD Garden audience was thrilled to see him leave.
Finnish: Curry seems to have hurt his leg. Horford stood on his leg while there was a scrum for a loose ball.
Score update: 17:00, fourth quarter – 23:21
Celtics 110, Warriors 96
Marcus Smart just climbed the Celtics by 14 with a great base of 3.
Rob Williams will appear at 11:10 p.m.
Finnish: Such a tough performance by Rob Williams, who wins Draymond to a loose ball that indirectly leads to a bucket of Tatum, and then catches a pass to midfield. In 19 minutes, he has 6 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks. I have to admit I was wondering if we would look like him tonight after it seemed so weird in game 2.
It’s strong in here: 11:06 p.m.
Kerr calls for a timeout after Grant Williams took an offensive rebound and put it back on 102-91 with 9:07 to play the fourth.
What should happen to the Celtics in the fourth – 23:05
Finnish: The Celtics greats need to do better shutting down Curry and Thompson coming out of the screens, and that means fighting under one screen if they have to do it instead of going over it. Rob, in particular, isn’t quick enough to get away with it right now; Jaylen needs to find her first-quarter form; Tatum’s gangs are no longer lost; Smart has to stop haggling with traffic and making complicated exits.
All doable!
How Udoka is unfolding its rotation: 23:04
Which one: Game 3 is the tightest rotation we’ve seen of Ime Udoka. Only seven minutes for Payton Pritchard. He’s basically riding with seven: more starters Derrick White and Grant Williams. Obviously, the Celtics are younger than the Warriors, but their top players are recording many minutes.
The Celtics were overtaken in the third, but not so bad: 23:02
McInerney: I just told Tara yes moooolt pessimistic but I feel that leaving the third with the leadership is a great victory.
Which one: The Warriors ended up beating the Celtics, 33-25, in the third quarter. Not their worst representation. The Celtics face fourth with a four-point lead. I imagine Steph Curry will play the 12 minutes.
Finnish: Yes, a pretty decent answer there after the Warriors went up 83-82 at 3:32. Smart hit his first 3 of the night, and Tatum made a couple of free throws to put them at 4. He could have gotten off the rails.
End of the third quarter: Celtics 93, Warriors 89 – 22:58
The Celtics entered the third quarter with a 12-point lead, and were beaten 33-25.
But they still maintain the lead entering the quarter.
Jaylen Brown leads the Celtics with 24 points; Tatum added 18 and Smart 16.
Steph Curry is 29.
Curry sitting – 22:53
Which one: Steph Curry is resting with 2:53 for the end of the third quarter, the Warriors are down by 4. Curry is up to 27 minutes. I wonder how long he is sitting.
Score update: 14:53, third quarter – 22:50
Celtics 85, Warriors 83
Which one: We have a game here. The Warriors have a few foul issues: Steph Curry and Draymond Green with 4; Kevon Looney with 3. For the Celtics, Al Horford and Robert Williams have three.
By Alex Speier: The Celtics are 8-2 during these playoffs when they outscore their opponent in the third quarter, including a 6-0 record when they outscore their opponent by at least 4 points. They are 3-4 when they were overtaken in the third quarter.
Horford gets the call of the Flagrant 1, and it’s a big swing. – 22:43 h
Finnish: That’s blatant, but none of the stuff Draymond pulls out is. Stupid.
Which one: Great 7-point swing: Steph Curry made a triple and received a foul on Al Horford’s play. Officials then upgraded the call to a flagrant one, giving Curry two shots to make one and the ball. In the subsequent possession of Golden State, Otto Porter Jr. knocked down a three to lead the Warriors to two.
Finnish: The rare possession of 7 points. Where is Alex?
Score update: 9:01, third quarter – 22:32
Celtics 77, Warriors 64
Which one: The Warriors put up eight, thanks to Steph Curry, but then Curry made a silly decision to miss Marcus Smart, coming from behind with a 3-point shot. Smart went to the line and made all three free throws, while Curry picked up his fourth personal foul. He, however, stays in the game.
Finnish: A whole sequence for the Celtics. Smart hits all three free throws, then goes into rush mode and deflects Green’s ball out of bounds. Al Horford then proves he can throw the ball deep, immediately throwing long at Brown for a kill. The lead comes back to 77-64, and Steve Kerr is asking for a timeout to remind the Warriors that the Celtics are not supposed to do that in the third quarter.
I wonder if part of the Warriors ’motivation for leaving Curry out with four fouls is that he could get Smart to focus too much on his own offense.
It’s three o’clock: 22:26
The Celtics were beaten 38-24 in the third game of the first game. It was even worse, 35-14, in the second game.
Will that change tonight?
Which one: Celtics on the edge in the first half: 18 plays, 10 of 14, 4 fouls. They need to stay aggressive.
Finn is the good and the bad – 22:21
The good and the bad at halftime, with the Celtics leading 68-56:
The good: Jaylen (22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, only 1 loss). A performance of the first part electric and balanced … Seventeen minutes of quality off the bench of Derrick White, who defended well to Curry and contributed 7 points and 2 assists, including a beauty in Horford for a kill … Marcus Smart hit 4 of 6 shots and I got some easy buckets in the paint. They were hunting a little at Curry, and he has a problem with three.
The bad: Eight losses … five free throws missed … the third quarter was not canceled.
Review of the show in the middle – 22:18
McInerney: Perhaps the Celtics asked Nelly to act because of her deep roots in St. Louis, just like star Jayson Tatum. But frankly, it was very disappointing. I couldn’t keep up with “Country Grammar”, only a small part of “Hot in Herre” and not even to touch “Air Force Ones”? Brutal.
What we thought of the first half: 22:14
Which one: Aside from a couple of ugly losses and wrong free throws, that part was very impressive for the Celtics.
They are shooting 57.4% from the field and 44.4% from three. They scored 32 points in the paint. They beat the Warriors 24-14. Some good statistics everywhere. That said, the Warriors have only dropped 12 and the third quarter is next.
We’ll see if the Celtics can rectify the problems in the third quarter.
MIDDLE: Celtics 68, Warriors 56 – 22:12
The 68 points in the first half were the highest for the Celtics in an NBA Finals game since they scored 79 in the first half of the first game in 1985 against the Lakers.
Jaylen Brown has 22 points for the Celtics.
Klay Thompson leads the Warriors with 15.