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The Celtics flexed their muscles, simplified their offense, and took it right at the Knicks from the beginning in Game 3, like a championship team should. The Knicks hoped they could stand up to the Celtics the way they did the first two games, riding an incredible wave of energy from a hyped up MSG crowd watching their first playoff game in seven years.

Instead, the Knicks were severely lacking in the energy, talent, and muscle departments. Not only did they have to play with a sub-optimal Amare Stoudemire (pulled back muscle), but the entire Knick team may as well have been playing with pulled muscles. They looked a bit overwhelmed by the moment, and even when they regained their bearings after a rough start, they couldn't get critical breaks or overcome the talent and experience deficit that finally imposed itself on a game in this series.

The tough start for the Knicks came down to some nerves, and a clearly hobbled Stoudemire and slumping Landry Fields. Amare missed his first two drives to the basket (neither one had any real lift), and on defense, he got caught on defensive switches on Pierce three different times that led to jumpers. Fields opened up with two more tentative shots (in a series full of them) and had a turnover that led to immediate Boston points. Even when the Knicks were able to force Celtic misses, another unfortunate trend established itself: loose balls or rebounds recovered by Rondo that led to three pointers while the Knick defense was out of position.

The Knicks fell behind by 22-5 before starting a comeback against a Celtic bench that continues to struggle and help the Knicks get back in games. Anthony Carter, Shawne Williams, Bill Walker, Jared Jeffries and Anthony managed to knock ten points off the lead to get the deficit down to seven by the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Knicks got the lead down to five (with opportunities to get it down further) several times, and the Celtics turned the ball over frequently enough to give the Knicks hope that they might make this another close game.

Those critical offensive rebounds mentioned earlier really hurt the Knicks in the second period, though; two Rondo rebounds led to two Ray Allen three pointers (one of which drew Toney Douglas' third foul, which hurt the Knicks' ability to hustle for boards and loose balls in the half even more). The Celtics managed to stiff arm the Knicks' best efforts at a comeback, and they maintained an eight point lead at the half.

Even with the energy and execution of the Knick starters being subpar in the first half, and the Celtics establishing control of the boards, there was reason to believe the Knicks could come back in the second half --  the deficit was manageable, and both teams were sloppy (12 assists/14 turnovers for the Celtics, 9 assists/11 turnovers for the Knicks in the first half). But in the third quarter, the Celtics went right at a big Knick defensive weakness (their ability to maintain defensive shape and awareness when navigating screens) with a simple 2-3 floppy action (Pierce and Allen setting screens for each other in the paint with Garnett and O'Neal just outside the block setting a second screen for one or both wings to use).

Both Doc Rivers and Rondo in the post-game press conference said that they needed to simplify the offense, with Rondo saying that the Cs essentially ran one set the entire second half. That set -- the Pierce/Allen screen action and variations off of it --  tortured the Knicks. Not only did Pierce and Allen get good looks, but the extra attention they drew from multiple Knick defenders freed up Garnett, O'Neal and even Rondo for easy baskets as well. Additionally, the Celtics wound up their defense on the Knicks so that Anthony and Stoudemire were funneled into a defensive wall in the paint, and Douglas and Fields continued to struggle with creating anything from the perimeter.

The Celtics cut their turnovers down to six in the second half; the Knicks had seven turnovers in the third quarter alone. Douglas struggled so much on defense with the Celtic screens and managing the Knick offense that he was replaced with Roger Mason after the Celtic lead ballooned to 21 at 77-56. The Knick reserves again managed a couple of mildly spirited runs to get the lead down to 14 after it had got as large as 23 (forcing the return of the Celtic starters, the only thing resembling a victory the Knicks could claim all night), but the Celtics quickly got the lead back up, led by Rondo, Rondo and more Rondo. His triple double of 15 points, 20 assists, and 11 rebounds was a gaudy statistical summary of the damage inflicted by the Celtics on the Knicks and their flickering hopes for competitiveness in this series.

Game Notes:

*  Amare: Hurting the Team More on D Than Helping on O?: The coaches had a real dilemma once it became apparent that Amare's offensive contributions were going to be limited, if not irrelevant: should they play him so that he could at least draw attention on offense and free up opportunities for his teammates, at the risk of his defense hurting the team even more? I think Amare had to at least play in the first half to see if he could loosen up with some game action and make an impact, but in the second half, I might have been tempted to sit him and go with Shawne Williams instead.

Amare ended up with 7 points on 8 shots and a horrific -34, even though (according to ESPN Stats) he had touches on only 20 percent of possessions while he was in the game. He was an extreme defensive liability against a Celtic offense running on high octane, and compared to Game 1, it was clear he was moving with extreme pain. It is tough for a coach to tell his best player that he's hurting the team, but if Amare is similarly hobbled in Game 4, his minutes should be curtailed and the dice should be rolled with the role players, whatever the consequences.

*  Carmelo Gets Locked Down: Carmelo came down significantly from this 42 point effort in Game 2, and nobody should have been surprised. The Celtics were caught off guard in Game 2 by the unusual lineups the Knicks ran out with the absence of Stoudemire and Billups, but with two days of preparation, they were able to gear their defense in Game 3 toward limiting Melo's opportunities. The most successful adjustment the Celtics made was to keep Rondo closer to Melo on several possessions to limit his ability to get off three pointers and to disrupt his drives; when Melo attempted to post up, Garnett and Jermaine O'Neal kept an eye on him as well to limit his spins toward the basket.

Melo played quite a bit of point forward in the second and third quarters, partially by design, partially because of Douglas' foul trouble and Carter's limitations as an orchestrator of efficient offense. Melo had some very good assists but also turned the ball over frequently (6 assists/5 turnovers for the game), an indication of how hurt Amare was (two different Melo passes to him at the elbow were bobbled and Amare could barely bend to retrieve them) -- but also an indication of how keyed in the Celtic defense was to every move Melo made.

On defense, Melo's bad habits contributed to Amare being exposed -- if Amare is moving poorly, Melo needs to fight harder through screens to close out on shooters instead of calling for a switch at the first opportunity. Two of Pierce's jumpers were a result of the "quick wave" Melo is infamous for on defense.

*  Douglas/Turiaf/Fields Fall Short: I mentioned in my notes prior to the start of the series that Douglas and Turiaf, in particular, would be two of the most crucial role players for the Knicks. They were both disappointing beyond even what i would have expected against a superior opponent like the Celtics Turiaf continues to deal with various nagging injuries that limit him to one or two good games in succession before his body betrays him, and that may be what happened last night, as he picked up two fouls quickly and never came close to making the impact he did in Game 1.

The Celtics trapped Douglas more on offense, and he struggled to find the open man and missed receivers in transition consistently. Douglas' on-ball defense can be punishing, but he had it rough for a second game in a row with off-ball defense trying to manage the low block screens the Celtics run.

As far as Fields, everyone knows his head is in a bad place now. Anthony's arrival obviously affected his game, but in this playoff series, he is missing the simplest opportunities, and he's pressing so badly he can't even make free throws. Yet he remains the only wing that can really guard Ray Allen with some modicum of effectiveness with his length. He should still get some minutes off the bench, but he should not start in Game 4.

*  Shawne Williams/Jared Jeffries - Game 3's Best Knicks: It's weird to point to two reserves who would barely get playing time on other rosters, but they were both very good and kept the Knicks in the game. Williams, in particular, had extreme confidence in his shot and attacked at every opportunity. Jeffries took a few too many shots and predictably got groans from the crowd for a couple of overambitious layups, but he looked to make things happen and had a particularly good spell of his trademark "one-man help" defense in the second quarter. The Celtics did adjust to Jared's loose defense on Rondo and tendency to help on other Celtics by having Rondo crash the boards, which as noted earlier was one of the biggest difference makers in the game.

*  New Coach Next Year?: This is a discussion I have little appetite for on my best days, as I've always felt coaches get a little too much credit and blame for small things perceived to have seismic impact, when the execution of the players on the floor is far more impactful. But it seems to be all-consuming for many fans seeking a scapegoat for how things have progressed in this series -- despite the fact that many picked the Celtics in five or six (at most), and that's with a fully healthy Knick roster.

My position has always been that Coach D'Antoni can't be fairly evaluated with all the changes and injuries that have made continuity with this roster a near impossibility for the last two months (and last three years), and that he should be retained for next year. And frankly, I find a lot of the nitpicking criticism of his tactical decisions overblown, inconsistent, and frequently rooted in misconceptions of his coaching style (If Doc Rivers' sparkling playbook had been magically gifted to the Knick coaches in the closing seconds of Game 1 and 2, they still would have had to deal with the reality of multiple end-of-bench players on the floor). There are some legitimate discussions to be had about how this team will evolve in the off-season, and where/whether the coach fits in the long term vision, which I plan to eventually write about.

In the meantime, there's a simple reality: the Celtics are a much better team, and speculating that things could be radically different if Corey Brewer were on this team or if Shelden Williams got more minutes doesn't really do much to alter the facts on the ground. But I'll acknowledge one reality: a Celtic sweep (which now looks very likely) does make it easier for Knick management to throw Walsh and D'Antoni out and start over with a different GM/coach combo in the name of "moving forward". Again, i don't think this is the wise path, but it does become a more distinct possibility which will gain traction and volume from the tabloids and drive by columnists. I can say I don't care or don't believe anything will happen, but the noise level will certainly rise in the next week, and bears watching.


Next game is for pride on Easter Sunday, and there's no hope that things will change much for the Knick roster with Amare at far less than 100 percent and Billups still out. I would love to see one last burst of effort and a more competitive game to reward New York fans for the support they've given the team, and to provide another marker for the positive direction the team is taking...even if the Knicks may be destined to go without a playoff win for their 11th straight year.