A minute into Friday’s Game 3 at the Garden, Kemba Walker missed a layup and the Nets got out on the break. Evan Fournier and Marcus Smart were pointing to each other to mark the wrong man and sure enough, Joe Harris buried an unguarded 3 for the umpteenth time this series. Two minutes later as Jayson Tatum looked to complain to the refs for not calling a foul, Kevin Durant sprinted out ahead of him, the Celtics transition defense overhelped and Harris got another right-corner 3.
Before they knew it, the Celtics were already down 19-4 and the season appeared to be over. The same mistakes that had plagued them over the past few weeks had finally put their miserable season to a close.
Then something changed.
