Why the Celtics have more at stake against the Knicks than just advancing 

Game 3 was encouraging for the Boston Celtics. The Celtics connected on 50 percent of their 40 three-point attempts in their 115-93 win over the New York Knicks, after shooting a combined 25-100 from deep in their two losses at home.

While it is patently unwise to bet against the defending champs, chock full of prime talent, winning at Madison Square Garden in Game 4 and squaring the series, a loss makes it difficult to see how Boston progresses in this series. And should they fall in this round, what does that mean for the future of this Celtics group?

In what traditionally would be seen as a triumph in roster management, every Celtic in their top eight in minutes per game except Al Horford is contracted for next season. But in the climate created by the new CBA, with more aprons that a culinary college, such expensive talent presents issues in team building, given Boston will be restricted in the trade market and unable to sign buy-out players, among other measures.

In raw terms, Boston’s payroll next season is currently slated to be around $262 million (against an expected $154.6 million cap), bulging to $464 million once the punitive luxury "repeater" tax is factored in. Fill in the roster with a first-round draft pick, a re-signed Horford (earning $9.5 million this campaign) and minimum salary cannon fodder, add the appropriate taxes, and you have a half a billion-dollar payroll bill.

Last season, Sportico estimated that the Celtics grossed $493 million in income, reduced to $465 million net. Given that was a championship season, with $102 million coming in playoff related revenue, the obvious question is how ownership can continue to balance those books if the Celtics fall to the Knicks?

The Celtics announced in late March that they were being sold to a consortium headed by lifelong Celtics fan Bill Chisholm for an eye-watering six billion dollars. Obviously, to have that much money available to purchase a team means that you can afford to service both the debt and the ongoing costs of running the team.

Additionally, any losses will be mitigated by the NBA’s new $77 billion media rights deal, which kicks in next season, providing a financial boon to the league's franchises.

Nonetheless, spending half a billion on a team that can’t progress to a conference final despite home floor advantage is a dicey proposition. Will that impact the year-on-year investment that new ownership is willing to make?

The saving grace could be that the core is all locked up for next season and may oblige the club to let its roster go around one more time before any drastic decisions are made. That said, nothing short of a conference championship is likely to make the financial ledger look acceptable.

While moving on from older veterans in Horford and Jrue Holiday would ease the financial strain, it would take a seismic move to really reset the financial situation. Superstar Jayson Tatum is rightly untouchable, but would Boston move Jaylen Brown next year if the team proves unable to make another championship push, either these playoffs or next?

If moved, would it be for a series of very good players? Another star? Picks? Boston would need to be careful not to move Brown only to stand still by reducing its talent without sufficiently reducing their financial obligations.

Should the Celtics fail to make it out of the series with the Knicks, the pressure will be on to make amends next season. Fail again and we could be witnessing the end of this era of the Boston Celtics.