After two losses in their own building, the Celtics went on the road to Miami needing a win in Game 3 on Sunday night to give themselves a chance in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat.
Instead of showing up with the desperation they needed to, they put forth their worst performance of the postseason, getting run out of the building in a 128-102 loss. It was as dispiriting a game as you’ll see from a team in a must-win setting, as their stars never got going, no one else could step up to consistently make shots, and their defensive effort continues to leave plenty to be desired.
Things totally got away from Boston in the third quarter, when Miami took a 15-point halftime lead and doubled it thanks to an onslaught on both ends that included Jimmy Butler trolling the Celtics by mocking Al Horford’s timeout taunt from Game 1. By the fourth quarter, the starters had been pulled down 30 and were left to try and figure out what went wrong on the bench. Plenty of people called the Celtics out for quitting, including Stan Van Gundy on the broadcast, but Boston’s performance was so bad that even one of their greatest rivals, Magic Johnson, was disgusted by what he saw, saying fans should be furious and saying major changes need to be on the horizon.
In my 44 years of being associated with the NBA I never thought I’d see a Boston Celtics team, a franchise with 17 Championships, quit. I know Celtics fans all over the world must be disgusted and devastated. The Miami Heat blew them 128-102 out in Game 3.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 22, 2023
It’s time for the Boston Celtics to major changes.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 22, 2023
There’s something very funny about Magic being this disappointed in a Celtics team, considering you’d expect him to revel in watching the franchise he went toe-to-toe with so many times being in the dumps. Instead, he’s frustrated like fans are watching Boston no-show a must-win game. Magic’s Lakers are in the same 3-0 hole as the Celtics, but they were at least competitive in Game 3 until the fourth quarter onslaught from Nikola Jokic and Denver broke the game open. Boston looked far closer to a “1-2-3 Cancun!” moment in Game 3, and they’re down so bad their fans are getting pity from Magic.