Third quarter. It's close to Bill Buckner, Deflategate, and the Babe Ruth Trade in New England. Celtics are a decent third-quarter team. In the regular season, they were +2.7 in the third quarter. In the playoffs, it's minus-0.8—cringey but not terrible.

Milwaukee's 34–17 blitz in Game 3 of the conference semifinals. In Game 1 of the conference finals, Miami routed Boston 39–17. In Game 1 of the Finals, Golden State beat the Celtics 38–24. The Celtics beat the Warriors with a 40–15 fourth quarter.

In Game 2, the Celtics played recklessly, allowing Golden State to build a 23-point advantage in the third quarter. Golden State won 107–88 to level the series against Boston.

Sunday was therapeutic for Golden State. Draymond Green called it "the noise" for three days. Golden State blew a double-digit lead in Game 1's fourth quarter.

Sunday was therapeutic for Golden State. Draymond Green called it "the noise" for three days. Golden State blew a double-digit lead in Game 1's fourth quarter.

“We come out and win tomorrow and everything's back to normal,” Green said on Saturday. “The Warriors are fine.”

Golden State beat Boston in a lopsided second half. Game 1's first quarter was Curry's best. Game 2: third. Quarterly, Curry scored 14 points.

The Celtics knew their third-quarter troubles heading into Game 2. Jayson Tatum: "We must be more aware" "It's one thing to talk about it, but we have to accomplish it and not ease into the third quarter like we usually do.

They will need a better defense against the Warriors’ three-point shooters, including Jordan Poole (17 points) and Andrew Wiggins (11) who contributed to Golden State’s 40% shooting from beyond the arc.