Boston Three Party Forces Knicks Into Game 6

Now down 3-2 in the best-of-seven set, the Celtics felt 22 in the most euphoric way possible: that's how many three-pointers Boston sank en route to victory, tying their record for most triples sunk in a single postseason game. It was also the most that the Knicks have allowed in any single postseason showing—breaking the record that previously fell on Saturday afternoon in Manhattan, when the Celtics hit 20 in their other win in this series.

Six different Bostonians sank at least two from deep, seven alone coming from the arms of Derrick White. That gives White 24 successful three-pointers (on just over 42 percent) in five games of this series, the second most any Knicks opponent has sank in a single set (Tyrese Haliburton set the record with the Indiana Pacers in last season's second round with 29).

Payton Pritchard added five in relief (albeit on 14 attempts) while specialist and fellow reserve Sam Hauser was 2-of-5 in his first showing back from a Game 1 ankle sprain. Even G League MVP JD Davison got in on the fun, closing things out in the final stanzas when both sides emptied their benches amidst Boston's one-sided lead.

The Knicks still lead the series and are guaranteed two chances to clinch an elusive Eastern Conference Finals ticket. Momentum, however, swings over to the green side, and the Knicks bluntly placed the blame on their defensive work ... or lack thereof.

"The issue was the defense," a sour Thibodeau flat out declared, per Jared Schwartz of the New York Post. "To start the third [quarter], we got in a hole and tried to get on track, but you've got to get some stops so that you can get into the open floor."

To Thibodeau's point, the scored board held a 59-all result entering the third period. Though Hart opened Knick scoring with a pair of three-pointers within the first two minutes, Boston hit four within the ensuing five creating both a 16-2 run and a double-figure lead it would not relinquish.

That doesn't even account for a successful three-part trip to the foul line when he was assailed by Hart and the damage from deep probably could've been worse if Boston hadn't started to invade the interior after luring the Knicks into the penalty with over nine minutes left in the frame.

Boston wound up winning the period 32-17, which proved to be solid insurance against yet another Knick comeback, as the lead never dipped under 15 the rest of the way.

"I wish I could tell you [what went wrong]. I wish I could pinpoint it because then if it did, we can address it," Hart, the leading scorer in the Knicks' Wednesday box score, said of the Knicks' defensive struggles in video from SNY. "I think that third quarter, there was a lot of frustration and that seeped into everything we were doing. We've got to make sure we control what we can control, and that's our communication, that's our effort, that's our intensity ... I feel like that's not what we did today. We've got to learn from it, execute it, and be better [in Game 6]."

There's no easier-obtained analytical fruit in this series than to label Boston's three-point shooting an x-factor considering they set a variety of records from the outside this year. The proof, however, has been in the victorious pudding: Boston has shot over 42 percent in its pair of victories over the Knicks and but less than 30 in the three defeats.